Founder Profile
Kiichiro Toyoda
Last reviewed: October 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Who is Kiichiro Toyoda?
Kiichiro Toyoda is a founder of Toyota Motor Corporation, which was founded in 1937 with Sakichi Toyoda.
- Company founded
- Toyota Motor Corporation
- Founded
- 1937
- Co-founders
- Sakichi Toyoda
Background
Son of Sakichi Toyoda (inventor of the automatic loom); studied engineering at Tokyo Imperial University.
Founding Story
Kiichiro Toyoda (1894-1952) founded the Toyota Motor Corporation in 1937, spinning it out of his father's successful textile machinery business. Against massive internal skepticism, he heavily invested the family's capital into automotive research, producing Toyota's first passenger car, the Model AA. He established the early foundations of the 'Toyota Production System' (just-in-time manufacturing) before resigning as President in 1950 following a severe financial crisis and labor strike.