Editing Toyota (section)

===1980s===
[[File:1987 Toyota Corolla (AE82) CS sedan (2015-11-11) 01.jpg|thumb|By the 1980s, the [[Toyota Corolla]] was one of the most popular cars in the world and became [[List of best-selling automobiles|the world's all-time best-selling automobile]].]]

After the successes of the 1970s, and the threats of import restrictions, Toyota started making additional investments in the North American market in the 1980s. In 1981, Japan agreed to [[Voluntary export restraint#1980 Automobile VER|voluntary export restraints]], which limited the number of vehicles the nation would send to the United States each year, leading Toyota to establish assembly plants in North America. The U.S. government also closed the loophole that allowed Toyota to pay lower taxes by building truck beds in America.

Also in 1981, Eiji Toyoda stepped down as president and assumed the title of chairman. He was succeeded as president by [[Shoichiro Toyoda]], the son of the company's founder.{{sfn|Dawson|2004}} Within months, Shoichiro started to merge Toyota's sales and production organizations, and in 1982 the combined companies became the Toyota Motor Corporation. The two groups were described as "oil and water" and it took years of leadership from Shoichiro to successfully combine them into one organization.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hino |first=Satoshi |year=2006 |title=Inside the Mind of Toyota |page=24 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=9781563273001}}</ref>

In Japan, Toyota offered mid-level luxury cars that were a class below the Crown and Century and offered hardtop coupes and sedans. The [[Toyota Supra|Supra]], [[Toyota Mark II|Mark II]], [[Toyota Cresta|Cresta]] and [[Toyota Chaser|Chaser]] offered several trim packages with different engine displacements to provide buyers with [[Road tax#Japan|annual road tax]] advantages. At the same time, sports cars like [[Toyota Celica|Celica]], [[Toyota Corolla Levin|Corolla Levin]] and [[Toyota Sprinter Trueno|Sprinter Trueno]] sold very well.

Efforts to open a Toyota assembly plant in the United States started in 1980, with the company proposing a joint-venture with the [[Ford Motor Company]]. Those talks broke down in July 1981.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Global Website {{!}} 75 Years of Toyota {{!}} Section 3. Local Production Starts in North America {{!}} Item 1. Negotiations with Ford |url=https://www.toyota-global.com/company/history_of_toyota/75years/text/leaping_forward_as_a_global_corporation/chapter1/section3/item1.html |access-date=June 29, 2021 |website=www.toyota-global.com}}</ref> Eventually in 1984, the company struck a deal with [[General Motors]] (GM) to establish a joint-venture vehicle manufacturing plant called [[NUMMI]] (New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc.) in [[Fremont, California]].<ref name="atc2010">{{Cite web |last=Siegel |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Siegel |date=March 26, 2010 |title=The End Of The Line For GM-Toyota Joint Venture |url=http://ww.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=125229157 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423033037/http://ww.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=125229157 |archive-date=April 23, 2016 |access-date=April 7, 2010 |website=[[All Things Considered]] |publisher=[[National Public Radio]] }}</ref> GM saw the joint venture as a way to get access to a quality small car and an opportunity to learn about The Toyota Way and the Toyota Production System. For Toyota, the factory gave the company its first manufacturing base in North America allowing it to avoid any future tariffs on imported vehicles and saw GM as a partner who could show them how to navigate the American labor environment. The plant would be led by [[Tatsuro Toyoda]], the younger brother of company president Shoichiro Toyoda.<ref name="Lyon 2018">{{Cite web |last=Lyon |first=Peter |date=January 9, 2018 |title=The Lasting Legacy Of Toyota's Tatsuro Toyoda: A Ground-Breaking Joint Venture In The U.S. |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterlyon/2018/01/09/toyotas-former-president-and-champion-of-prius-hybrid-tatsuro-toyoda-dies-at-88/ |access-date=August 6, 2021 |website=[[Forbes]]}}</ref> The first Toyota assembled in America, a white Corolla, rolled off the line at NUMMI on October 7, 1986.<ref name="timeline">{{Cite web |title=timeline |url=http://www.nummi.com/timeline.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100402121111/http://www.nummi.com/timeline.php |archive-date=April 2, 2010 |access-date=November 30, 2013 |publisher=NUMMI}}</ref>

Toyota received its first Japanese Quality Control Award at the start of the 1980s and began participating in a wide variety of [[#Motorsports|motorsports]]. Conservative Toyota held on to [[Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout|rear-wheel-drive]] designs for longer than most; while a clear first in overall production they were only third in production of front-wheel-drive cars in 1983, behind [[Nissan]] and [[Honda]]. In part due to this, Nissan's [[Nissan Sunny|Sunny]] managed to squeeze by the Corolla in numbers built that year.<ref name="whp19">{{Cite journal |last=Hattori |first=Yoshi |date=June 1984 |title=Japan: Minica magic |journal=[[Wheels (magazine)|Wheels]] |location=Sydney, Australia |publisher=Murray Publishers |page=19 |quote=Nissan built 1,200,000 front wheel drives, Honda about one million, and Toyota 800,000. Mazda was fourth, with 700,000 front wheel drive cars. |ref=Wh0684}}</ref>

[[File:Lexus LS 400 UCF10 I.jpg|thumb|The Lexus LS 400 went on sale in May 1989 and was seen as being largely responsible for the successful launch of Lexus.]]

Before the decade was out, Toyota introduced [[Lexus]], a new division that was formed to market and service luxury vehicles in international markets. Prior to the debut of Lexus, Toyota's two existing flagship models, the [[Toyota Crown|Crown]] and [[Toyota Century|Century]], both catered exclusively for the Japanese market and had little global appeal that could compete with international luxury brands such as [[Mercedes-Benz]], [[BMW]] and [[Jaguar Cars|Jaguar]]. The company had been developing the brand and vehicles in secret since August 1983, at a cost of over US$1 billion.{{sfn|Dawson|2004|page=4}}{{sfn|May|2006|p=43}} The [[Lexus LS#XF10|LS 400]] flagship full-size sedan debuted in 1989 to strong sales, and was largely responsible for the successful launch of the Lexus marque.