Why Toyota won: Toyota has transformed itself into a maker of exciting enthusiast-focused cars as well as dynamic everyday models.
Toyota is just one of the winners in this year's Britain's Best Car Awards - see the full list here.
When a company – particularly a multinational industrial giant – claims to be undergoing a radical transformation, the changes often become apparent only after many years, if at all. But Toyota’s transition from a maker of reliable automotive white goods to a brand with a variety of exciting, enthusiast-lauded products and a leading voice in the environmental conversation about a world after the internal combustion engine is a genuine one that is nearly complete.
Much of the credit can be attributed to Toyota’s president and CEO (and former Autocar Issigonis Trophy winner) Akio Toyoda. The grandson of founder Kiichiro Toyoda, he took the helm in 2009, not only when many of the brand’s products were uninspiring but also during a corporate meltdown, due to the ‘unintended acceleration’ saga that led to millions of cars being recalled multiple times.
A racer and car enthusiast through and through, Toyoda navigated Toyota out of this crisis and started to instil emotion within the firm from a corporate level to help push his products into the realms of desirability. The impressive progress made by Toyota over the past decade has now reached the point where it can be considered not only the world’s biggest car maker but also the best.
The more emotional Toyota started with the GT86, launched in 2012 at a time when many firms were backing away from the idea of bespoke sports coupés. But for Toyota, and indeed Toyoda, the GT86 was all about empowering the company to make great-driving cars once more. At its Tokyo motor show debut, the clever slogan to accompany it still rings true today: ‘Fun to drive. Again.’
That ethos has carried over to every new Toyota since. The new Toyota Yaris and Toyota Corolla best illustrate the quite remarkable turnaround Toyota has made in creating everyday cars with enthusiast appeal, which is key to why the firm has won this award. Even driving the latest Toyota Prius can raise a smile.
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Feels like Europe is, belatedly, beginning to understand what the rest of the world has for several decades now.
Well done, Autocar.