When Toyota Made Its First Car: Prototype, Production and US Arrival

The Short Answer

Toyota built its first car in 1935, when it completed a prototype passenger car called the Model A1. Its first production passenger car, the Model AA, followed in 1936. The two dates refer to different milestones: the A1 was an engineering prototype, while the AA was the first passenger car the company built for sale.

There is one further qualification. In 1935 the business was still a division of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, a textile machinery maker. The separate company, Toyota Motor Co., Ltd., was not established until 1937. US buyers did not see a Toyota car on sale until the late 1950s.

Key Milestones at a Glance

Year | Milestone | What it means; 1933 | Automobile department set up within Toyoda Automatic Loom Works | Start of in-house vehicle development; 1935 | Model A1 prototype passenger car completed | First Toyota car built, but not sold; 1935 | G1 truck introduced | First Toyota vehicle offered for sale; 1936 | Model AA passenger car enters production | First production Toyota car; 1936 | Brand name changes from Toyoda to Toyota | Origin of the current name; 1937 | Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. founded | Car business becomes an independent company; 1957–1958 | Toyota begins selling the Toyopet Crown in the US | First Toyota car on the US market

From Loom Maker to Carmaker

Toyota grew out of the textile industry. Sakichi Toyoda founded the company known for automatic looms, and his son Kiichiro Toyoda pushed the business toward automobiles. In 1933 an automobile department was created inside Toyoda Automatic Loom Works. Money from the loom business helped fund the early engine and vehicle work.

Japan had little domestic car production at the time, and American brands dominated the local market. The early Toyoda engineers studied foreign vehicles closely. They took them apart to learn how they were built, then developed their own engine and chassis designs.

The Model A1 Prototype (1935)

The Model A1 was the company's first passenger car. It was completed as a prototype in 1935. Its job was to prove that the department could design and build a complete car, not to go on sale. Only a small number of prototypes were made.

The A1 used a six-cylinder gasoline engine of about 3.4 liters, known as the Type A engine. This engine was closely based on contemporary American designs. The body showed the streamlined look then fashionable in the US, with sloping lines similar to the Chrysler Airflow.

Why a Truck Came Before the First Production Car

The first Toyota vehicle sold to customers was the G1 truck, introduced in late 1935. At the time, commercial vehicles had steadier demand in Japan than private cars, and they supported the country's industrial priorities. The G1 shared its engine with the A1 prototype. That shared engine let the company start earning revenue while it prepared the passenger car for production.

The Model AA: Toyota's First Production Car (1936)

The Model AA entered production in 1936. It was the production development of the A1 and kept its six-cylinder Type A engine and streamlined sedan body. If the question is when Toyota first made a car for the public, the AA is usually the answer.

An open-top version, the Model AB phaeton, was also offered around the same time. Production volumes of these early models were small by later standards. Very few original AA sedans are known to survive. Toyota has built a reproduction for its museum display.

How Toyoda Became Toyota

The early vehicles carried the Toyoda name, after the founding family. In 1936 the company ran a public logo competition and adopted the name Toyota. Accounts usually give three reasons for the change:

In Japanese katakana, Toyota is written with eight strokes, a number associated with good fortune. The new name separated the car business from the family name and the loom company. Many considered it clearer and more distinctive when spoken.

In 1937 the automobile operation became its own company, Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. That date is often used as Toyota's founding year as a carmaker. It came after both the first prototype and the first production car.

When Toyota Cars Reached the United States

US readers often mean a different milestone: when Toyota first sold cars in America. That happened more than two decades after the Model AA. In 1955 Toyota launched the Toyopet Crown in Japan, a sedan designed for domestic roads. Toyota set up its US sales company in 1957, and the Crown went on sale in the US around 1958.

The Crown was not well suited to American highways. It was considered underpowered for sustained high-speed driving, and Toyota withdrew it from the US market after a few years. The rugged Land Cruiser kept the brand present during this period. Toyota's US breakthrough came with the Corona in the mid-1960s. The Corolla, introduced in 1966, later became one of the best-selling car nameplates in the world.

Which Date Should You Use?

The right year depends on what you mean by "first car":

First car built by Toyota: 1935, the Model A1 prototype. First vehicle sold: 1935, the G1 truck. First production passenger car: 1936, the Model AA. Founding of Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.: 1937. First Toyota car sold in the US: late 1950s, the Toyopet Crown.

For most purposes, 1936 and the Model AA give the clearest answer, because that is when Toyota began building passenger cars for customers. Mention 1935 if you count prototypes, and the late 1950s if you mean the American market.