Toyota rolls out 200 millionth vehicle

TOYOTA has produced 200 million vehicles – enough to stretch 880,000km end to end, or to the moon and back and then some.

The milestone was reached last month, just short of the Japanese company’s 77th birthday, but has only now come to light.

Australian sales have accounted for 5,542,804 vehicles, or about 2.77 per cent of the global tally since local Toyota sales began more than half a century ago. Of those, 3.1 million were passenger cars and 2.4 million were commercial vehicles, including the top-selling HiLux.

Toyota says its first vehicle was a Model G1 truck built in August 1935 by Toyoda Automatic Loom Works Ltd’s automotive department – later to become Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC).

The first 50 million vehicles took more than 50 years – coming in 1985. The pace then picked up, with the second 50 million taking just 11 years, the third just nine years and the most recent 50 million a mere six years – one vehicle every four seconds.

Almost three-quarters of Toyotas have been produced in Japan, with 45 million built overseas.

Left: Toyota president Akio Toyoda.

Of all Toyotas built so far, one in five has been a Corolla, making it one of the world’s favourite cars. Of the 39 million Corollas built, almost 1.2 million have found homes in Australia.

Using the 4545mm-long Corolla sedan as an average, the 200 million vehicles built by Toyota would stretch 880,000km, or around the equator more than 22 times as Toyota puts it.

TMC president Akio Toyoda – grandson of Toyota founder Kiichiro Toyoda – expressed his “heartfelt appreciation” to customers around the world.

“I also have the most profound respect and gratitude for the efforts of all persons who were involved in developing, manufacturing and marketing Toyota and Lexus vehicles over the years,” he said.

“We are determined to make our cars even better, to continue to give our customers the best possible product. This is the common goal of our 300,000 Toyota staff members worldwide.”

Toyota Australia executive director sales and marketing Matthew Callachor said he was grateful for the long-term support and loyalty shown by Australian motorists towards Toyota and its vehicles.

“Over more than half a century, Australia has kicked well above its weight in the Toyota world,” he said.

“We have a relatively small population in Australia, with less than one-third of one per cent of the world’s people (0.32 per cent), yet the buying rate for Toyota vehicles in this country is eight times higher, accounting for 2.77 per cent of Toyota’s total global production.

“The role of Australians in Toyota’s global success is even more significant when you add local production from 1963 and exports from 1986.”

Luxury offshoot Lexus has sold 78,010 vehicles globally since being launched in this country in 1990.

Toyota has been the best-selling new-car brand in Australia for the past nine years and is again the market leader so far in 2012.