Toyota Once Used a Fake Dining Room Set to Teach Execs How Big Americans Are

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Toyota was a challenger 40 years ago with 8% of the world's car market, compared to Ford's 12.5% and GM's 19%.
A strong yen in the late 1980s cut into Toyota's export margins, leading to a 25% profit plunge by 1987.
Calty Design Research, Toyota's California studio, played a key role in helping Toyota understand American customers.
Calty used creative methods, like a model American dining room, to demonstrate the scale and lifestyle differences between the U.S. and Japan.
The dining room demo helped Toyota design vehicles better suited for American consumers, leading to market success in the following decade.
Eiji Toyoda, then chairman, aimed for Toyota to capture 10% of global car sales, a goal achieved after his lifetime.
Toyota overtook GM as the world's biggest carmaker in 2007, six years before Eiji Toyoda's death at 100.
Calty's 50th-anniversary book revealed unseen sports car concepts, including an alternate Mk IV Supra design.

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