What's in a Name? How 'Toyoda' Became 'Toyota'

Anyone who has an interest in cars knows that Toyota, both the car brand and the umbrella company that oversees its sister companies, is owned by the Toyoda family. But when the company that eventually became Toyota Motor Corporation was founded in 1933, it was under Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, the original business of which was in manufacturing automatic looms for the textile industry, and so the first few models it created wore the "Toyoda" brand and not "Toyota"--a true JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) model. So, what prompted the name change from the original name "Toyoda" to the now-ubiquitous "Toyota"? The original story as told by Toyota itself is that in 1936, it asked the public for suggestions of what its new logo should be. Of the around 27,000 entries it received, the change to "Toyota" was supposedly the popular choice. According to the Japanese company, the change from "Toyoda" to "Toyota" was regarded as favorable "because voiceless consonants sound more appealing than voiced consonants." In addition, through the concept of jikaku--counting the number of strokes in writing characters to determine good and bad luck--the eight strokes needed to write "Toyota" ("トヨタ") is associated with wealth and good fortune whereas "Toyoda" required ten strokes ("豊田"). Well, the "wealth and good fortune" part does seem true enough as Toyota is now the fifth-largest company in the world in terms of revenue and is the world's second-largest automotive manufacturer. But is the change in name as simple as that, down to the strokes required to write the name? Well, yes and no. One cited reason for the name change was that, since Toyoda's Automobile Production Division was looking to export its vehicles, the "Toyota" name sounds clear and more appealing than "Toyoda" for foreign markets. Another cited reason for the name change was that Risaburo Toyoda--the son-in-law of Toyota Industries founder Sakichi Toyoda and brother-in-law of Toyota Motor Corporation founder Kiichiro Toyoda and the very first Toyota Motor Company president--wanted to distance the company from farming machinery since "Toyoda" literally translates to "abundant rice field" in Japanese. Whatever the reason for the name change, Toyota is where it's at right now because of its innovative products and its steadfast reputation of making affordable yet reliable vehicles.