Toyota dealerships (Japan)

In Japan in the late 1940s, Toyota's sales department was part of its manufacturing company and had its office in Nagoya.[1]

Toyota Store Aichi

Toyopet Store, Saitama

Corolla Store Kyotanabe

Netz Store, Tsurumi-ku, Osaka

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At that time, the Japanese auto industry was controlled by the US government.[2] The majority of Toyota's sales was composed of trucks and buses. The new car business in Japan was quite limited.[3] There was little need for consumer-oriented branding or consumer-oriented showrooms.

On April 3, 1950, Toyota established a separate company for sales of its motor vehicles, including exports, which was called トヨタ自動車販売株式会社 Toyota Jidōsha Hanbai Kabushiki Gaisha, Toyota Auto Sales Corporation, sometimes abbreviated toトヨタ自販 Toyota Jihan.[1] In 1950, there were 47 sales outlets for Toyota vehicles in Japan.[4]

In 1955, Toyota launched a new style of sedan and named it "Crown".[5]

In 1957, Toyota began manufacturing a slightly smaller and more economical sedan, the Toyota Corona.[6] A separate sales network was created, which became known as "Toyopet Stores" (トヨペット店 Toyopetto-ten), to sell the Corona and Toyopet ToyoAce trucks. It currently features mid-range models. ("Toyota Jidōsha Nihon Kokunai Hanbaimō Nenpyō" Toyota Domestic Vehicle Sales Network Chronology in Japanese.)

To distinguish the Crown showrooms from the Corona showrooms, the Crown showrooms in Japan came to be called "Toyota Stores" (トヨタ店 Toyota-ten).[7] In the 1960s, Toyota Stores added the new luxury car Toyota Century.

In 1957, Toyota launched a dealership network in Japan for diesel commercial vehicles that it called Toyota Diesel Stores (トヨタディーゼル店 Toyota Dīzeru-ten). Initially, it sold trucks, buses, and forklifts, such as the Toyota Dyna and the Toyota Coaster. Hino products also were sold at Toyota Diesel stores after Toyota acquired that company in 1967. Starting in 1980, the Diesel Stores also sold the Starlet, Corolla, Corona, Vista, and Crown equipped with diesel engines. When the Toyota Diesel store network was disbanded in 1988, commercial vehicles were divided between the Toyota Stores and Toyopet Stores.

"Toyota Publica Stores" (トヨタパブリカ店 Toyota Paburika-ten) were established in 1961 to sell the Toyota Publica. In 1966, that chain of outlets was renamed "Toyota Corolla Stores" (トヨタカローラ店 Toyota Karōra-ten); it sells an economy model, the Toyota Corolla.[8]

The "Toyota Auto Stores" (トヨタオート店 Toyota Ōto-ten) sales network was established in 1967 to sell a Corolla clone called the Toyota Sprinter, and was renamed "Toyota Vista Stores" (トヨタ・ビスタ) in 1980 to sell a Camry clone called the Toyota Vista.[8] "Vista Stores" were replaced with two networks, "Netz Toyota" (ネッツトヨタ店 Nettsu-Toyota-ten) in August 1998, and Lexus in 2004. Some former Vista Store models were rebranded as Lexus (レクサス Rekusasu), such as the Altezza and the Aristo, while other products have been taken over by the "Netz Toyota", which was already selling the Toyota ist and the Toyota RAV4. "Netz" stands for "Network of Energetic Teams for Zenith", and targets young buyers.

In 2012, selected Japanese dealerships were given a special designation called "Area 86" that resembled the North American Toyota network, called Scion, to sell the Toyota 86, building on the marketing approach started with WiLL branded products.[8][9] As of 2017, the "Area 86" network was rebranded as "GR" for Gazoo Racing, sharing a similar approach to the performance division Toyota Racing Development or "TRD", providing various upgrades for the 86, Vitz, Prius, Mark X, Harrier, Noah and Voxy.[10]

In the female idol group, AKB48, Toyota and AKS, has worked together to create a subunit named "Team 8". Team 8 is created with the idea, 'Idols who come to meet you'. They have a total of 47 members, each representing a prefecture of Japan.

Starting in May 2020, models that were exclusive to particular Toyota dealership networks began to be shared with other Toyota dealership networks. Consequently, in Japan a customer can purchase any Toyota new from any of the four dealership groups, while Lexus products remain exclusive to Lexus locations.[11]