Toyota Car Leases

Why lease a Toyota

The manufacturer released its first passenger car, the Toyoda Model AA, in 1936. The first vehicles to be produced all bore the Toyoda name however a competition in 1937 led to the company to change the name to Toyota - a decision partly made because it only took 8 brush stokes (a lucky number) to write in Japanese. The company's first factory the Koromo Plant (now known as the Honsha Plant) began production in 1938 but the Second World War put output on hold. In 1950 Toyota Motor Sales Company was established and in 1951 the BX truck and BJ Toyota Jeep were announced and production of the SG small truck started.

Toyota expanded in the 1960s and launched a new research and development facility in Thailand. In the same decade the 10 millionth model was produced and the first Toyota was built outside of Japan. By the end of the 1960s Toyota was a well known name and in 1982 Toyota Motoring Company and Toyota Motor Sales merged to form Toyota Motor Corporation. In 1984 the firm entered into a joint venture with General Motors and by the end of the decade had started to produce new brands, with the launch of their luxury division Lexus in 1989.

Fast forward 20 years and the manufacturer is now the world's largest auto mobile maker with key models such as the Aygo hatchback and the Yaris hatchback currently in production. Toyota are one of the biggest firms to push hybrid vehicles and became the first big manufacturer to sell a hybrid - the Toyota Prius. The Toyota Prius is now the top selling car in America and the firm have also found success with other similar hybrid models, like the Camry and the Highlander.