Establishment of an
Automotive Production Division
Director Oshima (second from left) and others examining an
automobile part production machine tool while at Kearney & Trecker Marwin
Ltd. in the United States
The addition of a spinning machine business to Toyoda
Automatic Loom Works' existing automatic loom business led to a rise in the
company's performance, and the future was looking bright. Kiichiro Toyoda
seized this opportunity to establish the Automotive Production Division on September
1, 1933, and began preparing to build prototype vehicles. While the division
was not officially a part of the company organization, its members were a team
that had been studying and researching vehicles under Kiichiro, and the unit
began developing vehicle prototypes in earnest.
In preparation for the establishment of the Automotive
Production Division, Kiichiro sent director Risaburo Oshima to the U.S. and
Europe in June 1933 to purchase machine tools for automotive production that
had been studied beforehand. Oshima traveled from Yokohama to the United States
with director Rizo Suzuki on what was officially an "overseas
inspection", returning to Japan in March 1934 having purchased the desired
machine tools.
Meanwhile, Kiichiro studied the basic design of the
prototype vehicle, and decided on a design that used common parts, so that
customers could use service parts for the Ford and Chevrolet vehicles that were
prevalent in Japan at the time. In essence, he incorporated concepts from the
basic engine design of the Chevrolet and the sturdy truck chassis of Ford
vehicles. For passenger cars, he referenced the cutting-edge streamlined body
and chassis of the Chrysler DeSoto.
1934 DeSoto Passenger
car
In October 1933 Kiichiro took apart a 1933 model Chevrolet
passenger car and sketched the parts (measurements, drawings). While studying
the components that comprised a vehicle, he created a blueprint for a prototype
engine. Furthermore, the following year Kiichiro purchased 1934 model DeSoto
and Chevrolet passenger vehicles and used them as a reference for his design.
Disassembled parts were tested to identify materials, strength and rigidity. In
addition, Japanese manufacturers of imitation parts for foreign vehicles and
material suppliers were investigated.
As the company had absolutely no experience in the
automotive industry, people with relevant experience were recruited. Takatoshi
Kan, who had worked on the Atsuta vehicle during the Chukyo Detroit Project,
joined Toyoda Automatic Loom Works in November 1933, and Higuma Ikenaga, who
had been involved in development and manufacture of the Otomo vehicle at
Hakuyosha Company, was hired in March 1934. Recruitment of people with
automotive industry experience continued in following years with the hiring of former
GM-Japan employees Shotaro Kamiya, Shikanosuke Hanazaki and Seishi Kato in
1935, and Tomotsune Jiromaru and Kiemon Sawa in 1936, as well as former
Hakuyosha Company employees Shisaburo Kurata in 1936 and Shuji Ono in 1937.
Seigo Ito, a high school and university friend of Kiichiro who had worked on
development of three-wheeled vehicles at Nippon Air Brake Co., Ltd., also
joined the company in May 1937.
Construction of
Prototype Plant and Steelworks
Having established the Automotive Production Division,
Kiichiro Toyoda set about building a prototype plant and a steelworks. At the
time, acquiring parts and materials suited for automotive manufacturing was
difficult, and there was particular difficulty finding a steelmaker who would
develop steel for automotive use, as the demand volume was small. The company
was forced to manufacture the required parts by itself. Looking to construct a
steelworks, Kiichiro sought the advice of Dr. Kotaro Honda, and enlisted Benzo
Fukuda, plant manager of the Tsukiji plant of Daido Electric Works (now Daido
Steel Co., Ltd.) as an advisor.
Newspaper article
reporting on aircraft production
Toyoda Automatic Loom Works held an extraordinary general
shareholders meeting on January 29, 1934, and passed a resolution to increase
the company's capital from one million yen to three million yen in order to
fund expansion in to the automotive business. At the same time, Article 2 of
the company's articles of incorporation was revised, adding "manufacture
and sale of motors and powered transportation machinery" and
"manufacture and refining of steel" to the stated business purposes.
The Automotive Department and the Steelmaking Department were thus approved as
official organizations within the company, and future production of aircraft
was also planned.1
The Automotive Department's prototype plant was completed in
March 1934, comprising of a sheet metal and assembly plant, a machining and
finishing plant, a warehouse, and a materials testing and research office. The
sheet metal and assembly plant and the machining and finishing plant had a
floor area of 3,600 square meters 2 each, the warehouse was 1,700 square meters
in size, while the materials testing and research office covered 700 square
meters. The German and American machinery purchased the previous year by
director Risaburo Oshima began arriving and was installed, and the prototype
plant commenced operation from June to July that year.
Layout of the
steelworks at the automobile prototype plant in 1935
Following this, the Steelmaking Department's steelworks
building was completed in July 1934, and operation commenced in November after
installation of electric melting furnaces and mills. The Steelmaking
Department, which also operated the forging division, increased its forging facilities
by using the steam hammer forges from Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, and created
prototype forged parts for automotive use.
During this time, Takatoshi Kan visited the United States
from January to July 1934 to plan the mass production processes used to build
automobiles. Kan visited 130 plants, seven research facilities and five
universities to study the automotive and machine tool industries.
Prototypes of the A
Engine and Model A1 Passenger Car
In May 1934, the company began creating prototypes of the
cast parts used in cylinder blocks and pistons for the Model A engine, which
was based on sketches of the 1933 model Chevrolet sedan engine. Creating the
core1 of the water jacket, through which cylinder block cooling water flowed,
proved difficult. By referencing an oil core2 that Risaburo Oshima had brought
back from the United States, a cast cylinder block was finally completed in
August 1934 after repeated trial and error.
The first prototype engine was completed on September 25,
1934. The parts manufactured in-house were limited to cast parts including a
cylinder head, cylinder block, and pistons, while imported Chevrolet parts were
used for crankshafts, camshafts, valves, plugs and electrical components.
However, when fitted in a Chevrolet truck, the prototype
engine was only able to produce 48-49 hp during a driving test compared to an
output of 60 hp for the Chevrolet engine. After referencing overseas documents
and redesigning the cylinder head to fit the swirl combustion chamber, the
engine reached an output of 65 hp, exceeding that of the Chevrolet.
The 1936 Toyoda Box-Type Passenger Car Specifications
attached as reference to the Automobile Manufacturing Industry Law License
Application prepared on July 23, 1934 states that the A engine has "torque
of 19.4 kg-m (140 ft-lbs) (at 1,300 rpm - 2,000 rpm)".
Initial production targets for passenger cars were set at
200 units per month, and prototyping was commenced. The company purchased a
1934 model DeSoto sedan in April 1934, and a 1934 Chevrolet sedan in May, as
design models. These were disassembled and sketched to design the chassis and
the body, and in July that year a lofted drawing of the body was completed.
Kiichiro Toyoda gave roughly the following explanation
regarding his decision to model the passenger car body on the Chrysler 1934
model DeSoto sedan. It would take at least three years to build a mold for body
stamping parts, and if styling trends changed during this time all the
company's efforts would be wasted. As a result of investigations into U.S.
automobile styling trends, it was found that the styling of the 1934 model
DeSoto was one or two years ahead of other vehicles, featuring a streamlined
design that was completely different to conventional models. Kiichiro predicted
that this design was ahead of its time, and hence used it to model his
prototype on.
The rear panel design of the passenger car body was
completed in November 1934, and manufacture of stamping molds began, with
guidance provided by external contractors. However, it became apparent that the
molds would take one and a half years to complete. The company decided to
instead manufacture vehicle bodies by hand-forged sheet metal work under the
guidance of the same contractors.
Completion ceremony
for the A1 prototype passenger car
Through these efforts, the Model A1 passenger car prototype
was completed in May 1935, in less than two years (from September 1933).
However, in addition to the cast parts3 and forged parts4 manufactured
in-house, the vehicle also incorporated many genuine Chevrolet parts.
Lofted drawings of the passenger car body were completed in
July 1934, and while stamping die design and manufacture based on the drawings
were being conducted, a request was received around December from the Ministry
of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of War to manufacture trucks and
buses for reasons of national policy.1 In accordance with that request, Toyoda
Automatic Loom Works, Ltd. began designing a truck in March 1935. Developments
leading up to that time are described below.
Toyoda Automatic Loom Works held an extraordinary general
shareholders meeting in January 29, 1934 and decided to enter the automobile
business and the steel making business. The details of the decision were
reported in the Nagoya Shimbun on January 23, prior to the meeting2, and the
reports continued into February. As a result, Toyoda Automatic Loom Works'
entry into the automotive business was known within the automotive industry and
by government personnel involved with automobiles. A total of seven automakers
including Toyoda Automatic Loom Works and Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
(renamed Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. in June of that year) were asked in April by
the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of War to submit their
opinions concerning the development of a national automotive industry.
On September 4, 1934, the Engineering Bureau of the Ministry
of Commerce and Industry held the seventh meeting of the Ministerial Conference
on Establishing an Automobile Industry.3 Kiichiro Toyoda, Yoshisuke Ayukawa
(president of Nissan Motor), and Tomonosuke Kano (chairman of Automobile
Industries) expressed their opinions. Also attending the conference were
Kakichi Takeuchi and seven other members of the Ministry including Kaoru Ban, a
middle school classmate of Kiichiro and a section manager in the Engineering
Bureau.
A summary of Kiichiro's explanations and opinions is as set
forth below:
1.Toyoda Automatic Loom Works began researching automotive
mechanics in about September 1933 and was currently producing passenger car
prototypes, but had not yet begun truck manufacturing.
2.An engine had been completed, but it was necessary to
supply a large number of spare parts, so for the design, a Chevrolet engine was
sketched.
3.Body stamping die manufacturing would take about six
months.
4.With minimum monthly production of 700 to 800 units, price
competition with American cars would be possible.
5.The company was not considering support from the
government, but if offered it would be accepted. However, subsidies would
interfere with cost cutting efforts and were not needed.
6.It was not known which companies would succeed in the
automotive industry, so it would be desirable that all of the companies be
granted manufacturing licenses.
Kiichiro was opposed to subsidies and barriers to market
entry, which could impede self-help efforts. He expressed his opinion in favor
of free trade so strongly that Manager Ban asked, "Do you think anything
the government does is a hindrance?"
The Ministerial Conference on Establishing an Automobile
Industry met for the 13th time on October 9, 1934 and held a general conference
to discuss its conclusions on the 19th of that month. It is believed that the
request to Toyoda Automatic Loom Works to manufacture trucks was made in or
after November of that year based on the results.
As a result of these developments, Toyoda Automatic Loom
Works began to produce a truck prototype. In March 1935, the company purchased
a 1934 Ford truck, and based on that, began designing the chassis. Toyoda
Automatic Loom Works had already completed a prototype A engine for passenger
cars based on a 1933 Chevrolet engine, and a decision was made to use the same
engine in the truck. The durable Ford style was adopted for the frame, a Chevrolet
type front axle was selected because of the relationship with the engine
mounting, while the full floating Ford-type rear axle was chosen, taking
advantage of the strengths of each style. The plans called for rapid completion
of a prototype in six months, and production proceeded by making use of spare
parts available on the market from Chevrolet, Ford, and other companies for
those parts that could not be manufactured in time.
The truck design was created by the Design Department, a
part of the Loom Division's Plant Administration Department, and a prototype
plant was constructed nearby. The truck prototype was hastily built in parallel
with the passenger car prototype, and as a result the prototype plant was an
extremely simple structure with pillars sunk directly into the ground under a
roof. The No. 3 Ironworks was constructed to manufacture the truck suspension
parts, and this was a full-fledged iron-frame building.
The first Model G1 truck prototype was completed on August
25, 1935 (Table 1-2). From September 13 to 18, the truck underwent a 1,260
kilometer test drive through Tokyo, Gunma, Nagano, Yamanashi, and Hakone, and
the flange attachment weld of the rear axle housing broke, giving rise to
concerns for the future.
Toyoda Model G1 truck
at the announcement site
Despite these developments, a presentation for the Model G1
truck was held at the Tokyo Jidosha Hotel Shibaura Garage4 on November 21 and
22, 1935. The vehicle used for the presentation departed from Kariya at 5 a.m.
on November 20, but the steering third arm broke while en route, and the truck
did not arrive at the Shibaura site until 4:00 a.m. on November 21 because of
the time needed for repairs.
A number of events commemorating Sakichi Toyoda took place
in 1935. First, a bust of Sakichi was installed and an unveiling ceremony held
in the Nagoya headquarters of Toyoda Boshoku Corporation in April, and that
May, the completion of the Model A1 passenger car prototype was announced in
front of Sakichi's tomb and a pledge was made to achieve success in the
automotive industry. In addition, the Toyoda Precepts were adopted on October
30, the fifth anniversary of Sakichi's death.
In conjunction with the development of the automotive
business, many new employees were joining the company and it became necessary
to confirm at all possible opportunities Sakichi's ideas that had been handed
down to Toyota-related companies. For example, President Risaburo Toyoda
(Toyoda Boshoku's managing director) said at the unveiling of the bust of
Sakichi, "We are unified in our purpose to never forget your spirit of
contributing to the company and to the overall good, and we strive to never
eschew these responsibilities."
These principles of Sakichi's were organized into concepts
for research and discovery as well as business management and standards of
conduct for individuals and were adopted as the Toyoda Precepts, guidelines for
all employees of Toyota companies. The Toyoda Precepts were announced in front
of the bust of Sakichi in the Toyoda Boshoku head office.
Toyoda Precepts
- Always be faithful to your duties, thereby contributing to
the Company and to the overall good.
- Always be studious and creative, striving to stay ahead of
the times.
- Always be practical and avoid frivolousness.
- Always strive to build a homelike atmosphere at work that
is warm and friendly.
- Always have respect for God, and remember to be grateful
at all times.
The announcement of the Toyoda Precepts at the end of
October 1935 came just a month before the announcement of the Model G1 truck
and can be seen as an indicator of readiness to enter the automotive business.
It indicates the "contributing to the company and to the overall
good" objectives of contributing to the development of society and the
economy through the establishment of an automotive industry and expresses the
commitment to technological development as well as research and creativity for
the further advancement of automobiles.
Source: TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION
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