Logo and branding

In 1936, Toyota entered the passenger car market with its Model AA and held a competition to establish a new logo emphasizing speed for its new product line. After receiving 27,000 entries, one was selected that additionally resulted in a change of its monikor to "Toyota" from the family name "Toyoda." It was believed that the new name sounded better and its eight-stroke count in the Japanese language was associated with wealth and good fortune. The original logo no longer is found on its vehicles but remains the corporate emblem used in Japan.

Still, there were no guidelines for the use of the brand name, "TOYOTA", which was used throughout most of the world, which led to inconsistencies in its worldwide marketing campaigns.


MEGAWEB, Toyota's permanent exhibition showroom and museum in Odaiba, TokyoTo remedy this, Toyota introduced a new worldwide logo in 1989 in conjunction with and to differentiate it from the newly released luxury Lexus brand. There are three ovals in the new logo that combine to for the letter "T", which stands for Toyota. The overlapping of the two perpendicular ovals inside the larger oval represent the mutually beneficial relationship and trust that is placed between the customer and the company while the larger oval that surrounds both of these inner ovals represent the "global expansion of Toyota's technology and unlimited potential for the future."

The logo started appearing on all printed material, advertisements, and dealer signage starting in 1990 and on the cars themselves in 1991