Following the talk of the merger with Prince Motors, Mitsui
Bank brought the idea of a merger with Hino Motors to Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.
With Mitsui Bank as the intermediary, negotiations on a cooperative alliance
between Toyota and Hino Motors began in January 1965. Then in 1966, Masanobu
Matsukata, then president of Hino Motors, made a bold suggestion: "We'll
stop making the Contessa compact passenger car, but give us something
comparable to do in its place." After that, directors from four companies
(Hino Motors, Hino Motor Sales, Ltd., now merged, Toyota Motor Co. Ltd., and
Toyota Motor Sales Co., Ltd.) held frequent discussions and eventually agreed
on a cooperative alliance.
Burisuka Model GY10
(1967)
On October 15, 1966, a joint statement was issued, and on
the 19th a memorandum related to the cooperative alliance was signed. The
details of the alliance are as follows:
1.Toyota Motor and Toyota Motor Sales will provide
cooperation and assistance for compact cars manufactured and sold by Hino
Motors.
2.New products will be cooperatively planned.
3.Companies will cooperate in expanding the export market,
improving technologies, and streamlining parts and material procurement.
A business partnership committee was established among the
four companies and achieved steady progress. On the production side, employees
of Hino Motors were sent to Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. for the six months beginning
in December 1966 to learn Toyota's manufacturing and management methods.
Furthermore, Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. decided to subcontract production of the
Publica Van to Hino Motors beginning in March 1967.
On the sales side, Hino Motor Sales streamlined and
consolidated its dealership network, with Toyota Motor Sales Co., Ltd. agreeing
to absorb the excess dealers and personnel. In this way, progress was made in
adjusting the two companies' sales networks. Then in April 1967, the Toyota
Briska (GY10), a small, cab-behind-engine-type 1-ton truck, was announced as
the first result of the two companies' technical cooperation.
Ten years following the formation of the cooperative
alliance, Hino Motors President Masashi Arakawa wrote the following reflection
on those days:
Immediately following the formation of the alliance, we sent
1,200 of our employees to Toyota to have them learn the Toyota production
method. I remember giving the following pep talk to those selected to go to
Toyota:
“As soon as you return, you will be assigned to the Publica
Line at the Hamura Plant. You have been selected to represent Hino and make the
cooperative alliance beneficial. Hino's future is on your shoulders. We
acquired valuable know-how and Hino's corporate culture improved rapidly. Our
plants' productivity doubled and the amount of work-in-process was reduced by
two-thirds. Additionally, by learning a new product startup method, we
succeeded in improving the initial quality of our new models, and user
confidence in Hino vehicles spread throughout Japan.”
Hino trucks' market share, which had stood at only 17
percent immediately following the formation of the cooperative alliance,
climbed every year thereafter, eventually propelling Hino to the position of
the top manufacturer in 1973.
In addition to these specific benefits derived from the
alliance, Toyota and Hino also strengthened their relationship in terms of
capital and personnel beginning in the middle of 1967. For example, in December
of that year, Hino Motors built its Hamura Plant No. 2 dedicated to the
production of Toyota compact cars in Hamura-machi, Nishitama-gun, Tokyo,
further strengthening the alliance between the two companies.
Source: Toyota Motor Corporation
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