REVENUE STRATEGY - TOYOTA MOTOR

1. Toyota isn't accepting its No.1 position comfortably. It makes some of its executives nervous to be the chased, rather than the chaser.
2. The Toyota Way is about constant improvement. It's a never-ending journey. It bases its business on what the customer wants, so there's no end to the improvement it can achieve. Toyota doesn't monopolize this idea. And it has to translate beyond Japanese culture to be successful.
3. Respect for people is another important element. Employees. Customers. Suppliers.
4. The Toyota Way is teamwork with suppliers. This teamwork is going to be a long-lasting relationship. Price is only one element. Trust is a more important element. (A supplier of axles for pickup trucks was awarded the contract with no discussion of price. It was all based on whether his company's processes and quality were acceptable to Toyota. The relationship is a sharing concept, and should always be win-win.)
5. It is likely to pursue more niches in future. More important, it will keep improving the existing product lineup that has a lot of opportunities.
6. Increasingly, it is doing the development of its vehicles in the States.
7. In the last five to 10 years it has advanced in the design department where it once lagged.
8. Twenty years ago when Toyota had no confidence in how it would operate manufacturing in the U.S. it began with the NUMMI joint-venture plant with GM [where Toyota builds the Matrix and Corolla alongside the Pontiac Vibe]. GM helped a great deal.
9.Its corporate advertising is quite effective and resented by its Detroit rivals.

If Toyota feels more comfortable chasing the competition, it can now start chasing GM and Ford combined and ultimately all the other automakers of the world combined. After that....it will have to learn to live with an uncomfortable feeling.


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