Toyota Make Overview

Toyota Motor Corporation was founded in 1933 by Kiichiro Toyoda. The first Toyota, the Toyota Model AA, rolled into production in 1936, and Toyota has maintained a solid reputation for dependability, value, and reliability ever since. Toyotas are very reliable cars.

Hybrids

Toyota has gained very positive publicity in recent years with its Prius (well, unless you count the South Park episode in which they lampooned "Pious" drivers =D).  Toyota is very environmentally conscious and continues to test hybrid technologies and means of achieving cleaner emissions.

SUVs

Despite these lofty goals, among the most popular vehicles from Toyota are their SUVs. The Four Runner has been around since 1984 and has an almost cult-like following. It is known for its safety, reliability, and creature comforts. The Highlander is a slightly smaller SUV around since 2001. Shrinking further, we get to the ultra-popular RAV-4, which began production in 1994 and has been growing ever since. At the high-end size-wise are the Land Cruiser and the even-bigger Sequoia, produced since 1954 and 2000, respectively.

Sports Cars

Of course, Toyota isn't just small and clean or big and powerful. They also have a line of small, sporty cars.  The 2000GT is among the few classic foreign muscle cars.  Building on this history, the Celica arrived on the scene in 1970, followed by the Supra in 1979 and the MR2 in 1984. The Celica was phased out and replaced by the Scion tC and the Camry Solara in 2005. The Supra maintains great popularity, in part to the tunability of these supercharged vehicles.

Sedans

For the more conservative among us, Toyota offers a superior line of sedans, including the small Corolla (actually considered a compact), mid-size Camry, and luxurious Avalon. All are omnipresent on roads throughout the States. The Cressida was phased out in 1992 after 20 years of production. Smaller cars include the teeny ECHO and the now-defunct Tercel and Paseo.

Pickups and Vans

Last in the Toyota line are the pickups and vans. The T-100 got Toyota into a bit of a spat with Ford over naming conventions, and was eventually phased out in favor of the popular Tacoma and Tundra.  Minivans of the Toyota line include Previa and Sienna.