Toyota has just made its 200 millionth vehicle, 77 years after its first, a Toyota G1 truck appeared in 1935, followed by its first car, the AA in 1936.

Toyota grew out of the Toyoda Loom Works. The “d” was replaced by a “t” because it was felt to be more auspicious in the Japanese language – and one cannot say they were wrong. Toyoda had started as licensees of British loom manufacturers, but the company developed the world’s most advanced automatic looms – and put a lot of its British competitors out of business.

Marking the achievement, Toyota President Akio Toyoda said: “I wish to express my heartfelt appreciation to our customers the world over who made it possible for us to reach this milestone. I also have the most profound respect and gratitude for the efforts of all persons who were involved in developing, manufacturing, and marketing Toyota and Lexus vehicles over the years. We are determined to make our cars even better, to continue to give our customers the best possible product. This is the common goal of our 300,000 Toyota staff members worldwide.”

Although one would not bet against Toyota getting to 400 million units in future, one fact will change. Toyota says 75% of those 200 million were made in Japan. With high costs in Japan, Toyota will never again make most of its production in its home country.