[16] At the onset of World War II, Toyota almost exclusively produced standard-sized trucks for the Japanese Army, which paid one-fifth of the price in advance and the remainder in cash upon delivery.

Under these new policies, in 1949, Japanese automakers were allowed to resume passenger car production, but at the same time, a new economic stabilization program to control inflation plunged the automotive industry into a serious shortage of funds, while many truck owners defaulted on their loans.

In 1981, Japan agreed to voluntary export restraints, which limited the number of vehicles the nation would send to the United States each year, leading Toyota to establish assembly plants in North America.

The Supra, Mark II, Cresta and Chaser offered several trim packages with different engine displacements to provide buyers with annual road tax advantages.

For Toyota, the factory gave the company its first manufacturing base in North America allowing it to avoid any future tariffs on imported vehicles and saw GM as a partner who could show them how to navigate the American labor environment.

Prior to the debut of Lexus, Toyota's two existing flagship models, the Crown and Century, both catered exclusively for the Japanese market and had little global appeal that could compete with international luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Jaguar.

In Japan, Toyota continued to cater to the growing demand for mid-level luxury cars and offered several conventional and pillared hardtops sedans at its Japanese dealership network.

[66] At least 37 were killed in crashes allegedly related to unintended acceleration,[67] approximately 9 million cars and trucks were recalled,[68] Toyota was sued for personal injuries and wrongful deaths,[69] paid US$1 billion to settle a class action lawsuit to compensate owners for lost resale value,[70] and paid a US$1.2 billion criminal penalty to the United States government over accusations that it had intentionally hid information about safety defects and had made deceptive statements to protect its brand image.

[86] In October 2019, Toyota backed the Trump Administration's proposal that federal authority should override California's ability to set its own emissions standards for automobiles.

The three companies said they would form a new joint venture by April called Commercial Japan Partnership Technologies Corporation with the aim of developing fuel cell and electric light trucks.

[93] In April 2021, Toyota said that it will buy Lyft's self-driving technology unit for $550 million and merge it with its newly created Woven Planet Holdings automation division.

[99] Toyota will increase its software engineer intake to around 40% to 50% of all technical hires from the second quarter of 2022, the move plans to address a transformation to so-called CASE — connected, autonomous, shared and electric — technologies in an environment of intensifying global competition.

[112] In November 2024, Toyota and Joby Aviation completed an air taxi test flight in Japan using an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

In the 1980s, Toyota wanted to expand its luxury car offerings but realized that existing Japanese-market flagship models had little global appeal and could not compete with established brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Jaguar or the Acura and Infiniti marquees being launched by Japanese competitors.

The FCV-R sedan seats four and has a fuel cell stack including a 70 MPa high-pressure hydrogen tank, which can deliver a range of 435 mi (700 km) under the Japanese JC08 test cycle.

[149] In late 2022, the company signed an £11.3 million government deal with the UK's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to help it develop a hydrogen-powered Hilux pickup truck.

The production Prius Plug-in had a maximum electric-only speed of 100 km/h (62 mph), and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rated the vehicle as having a range of 18 kilometres (11 mi) in blended mode (mostly electric, but supplemented by the internal combustion engine).

A year later, Toyota outlined its electric-vehicle plans for between 2020 and 2030 to the press in Tokyo, saying it would introduce "more than 10" battery-electric vehicles worldwide by the early 2020s, beginning in China, and later in Japan, Europe, the US and India.

"[183] In December 2021, Toyota announced in Tokyo plans for 30 battery-electric models by 2030, to sell 3.5 million BEVs per year by that date, and that its premium-brand Lexus will be 100% battery-operated by 2030 in North America, Europe, and China.

A small network in Japan sells the luxury craft at 54 locations, called the "Toyota Ponam" series, and in 2017, a boat was labeled under the Lexus brand name starting May 26, 2017.

[215] In addition, Toyota has partnered with various renewable energy companies to promote the use of wind and solar power, including a recent partnership with ENEOS Corporation to develop hydrogen refueling stations in Japan.

[218] In November 2016, Toyota agreed to pay $3.4 billion to settle allegations that roughly one-and-a-half million of its Tacoma, Tundra, and Sequoia pickup trucks and SUVs had been outfitted with frames prone to corrosion and perforation.

[89][223] Between 2009 and 2011 Toyota, under pressure from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), conducted recalls of millions of vehicles after reports that several drivers experienced unintended acceleration.

While most of the personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits were settled confidentially,[69] Toyota did spend more than US$1 billion to settle a class action lawsuit to compensate owners for lost resale value,[70] and the company agreed to pay a US$1.2 billion criminal penalty to the United States government over accusations that it had intentionally hid information about safety defects from the public and had made deceptive statements to protect its brand image.

[235] However, in 2020, the Norwegian Consumer Authority banned the adverts outright in Norway, stating: "It is misleading to give the impression that the power to the hybrid battery is free of charge, since the electricity produced by the car has consumption of gasoline as a necessary condition.

The vehicles in question had a notch in the interior panel of the front door which avoided the possibility of the collision creating a sharp edge that could have injured an occupant when the side airbag deployed.

[240] In December 2023, Daihatsu halted shipments of 64 models, including two dozens branded as Toyota, after safety investigations uncovered misconduct far greater in scope than previously expected.

Toyota has a large presence in the United States with six major assembly plants in Huntsville, Alabama, Georgetown, Kentucky, Princeton, Indiana, San Antonio, Texas, Buffalo, West Virginia, and Blue Springs, Mississippi.

[253][non-primary source needed] Before Toyota, Ford and GM's Holden had announced similar moves, all citing an unfavorable currency and attendant high manufacturing costs.

[278][non-primary source needed] In May 2024, Toyota announced that it will not be extending the contract after the 2024 games in Paris, due the company reportedly being unhappy with how the IOC has used its sponsorship money.