Abstract
Toyota Motor Corporation is one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world. From 2000 to 2005, the sales units have increased from 2.5 million to 7.97 million. With 35 percent of the total market capitalization in the automobile industry, the Japanese firm is becoming more than a serious competitor for General Motor which is the world's largest car manufacturer. In spite of this excellent situation, Toyota is still developing its firm around the world by setting ambitious goal such as "to reach 15 percent global share in 2010". Establishing a market in Europe is one of Toyota's strategies to meet this goal. The brand has launched the first European car, the Toyota "Yaris" which was such a success that the company decided to repeat the experience and ventured into the minicar automobile segment. This segment exists for a long time in Europe. Nevertheless it became popular only in the recent years. Several factors such as economic uncertainty, high unemployment and increasingly high fuel prices have boosted this segment in Europe. Today the big automobile brands are fighting to gain market shares and increase their sales in this specific segment. This document presents a case study about Toyota which answers several questions on the company's strategy. The document is extensive and a lot of Toyota's strategic aspects are being studied.
