was a Japanese car manufacturer. It was a member of the

Toyota Group The is a group of companies that have supplier, vendor and investment relationships with Toyota Industries and Toyota Motor vehicle manufacturing facilities. It is similar to a ''keiretsu'' in that no particular entity has outright control over ...

. In July 2012, Kanto Auto Works and two other Toyota subsidiaries were merged to form

Toyota Motor East Japan Toyota Motor East Japan is a manufacturing subsidiary of the Toyota group based in Japan. It was founded in July 2012 by the merger of Central Motors, Kanto Auto Works and Toyota Motors Tohoku. History Following the Tōhoku earthquake, the P ...

History

In April 1946, Kanto Auto Works was established in

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...

, Japan, as an independent company called ''Kanto Electric Motor Works'' which focused on repairing cars, assembling

electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...

s and producing bus bodies. In early 1948, it became a

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

contractor, producing auto bodies. During its early years, the company also assembled some cars for Toyota ( Toyota SB,

Toyota Master is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the Automotive industry#By ...

Toyota Crown The is an automobile which has been produced by Toyota in Japan since 1955. It is primarily a line of mid-size luxury cars that is marketed as an upmarket offering in the Toyota lineup. Introduced in 1955 as the Toyopet Crown, it has served ...

). The company also diversified into other products such as

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

s and

prefabricated home Prefabricated homes, often referred to as prefab homes or simply prefabs, are specialist dwelling types of prefabricated building, which are manufactured off-site in advance, usually in standard sections that can be easily shipped and assembled. ...

s. In 1950, it adopted the ''Kanto Auto Works'' name. In 1960, the company became a permanent car assembler through a new Yokosuka plant. Later, the company replaced Yokosuka for car assembly with the Higashi-Fuji (established in 1968) and Iwate (established in 1993) plants. Kanto Auto Works was a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...

until 2011 when, following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, Toyota announced it would make it a wholly owned subsidiary. On July 1, 2012, Kanto Auto Works and two other Toyota subsidiaries (

Central Motors Central Motor Co., Ltd. was a Japanese manufacturer of cars within the Toyota Group. It was founded on 4 September 1950 by Ryuichi Tomiya. The company operated five plants, all located in Japan. It was one of the biggest export vehicle manufactu ...

and

Toyota Motors Tohoku Toyota Motors Tohoku was an auto parts manufacturing subcontractor under the Toyota Group. The company was created in July 1997 in Taiwa, Miyagi, Japan. On July 1, 2012, three Toyota subcontractors Central Motors, Toyota Motors Tohoku, and Kanto ...

) were combined into a single company called

, Inc.

Facilities

*Head Office, Kanagawa, Yokosuka *Higashi Fuji Research and Development Center,

Susono, Shizuoka 270px, Susono with Mount Fuji is a city located in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 51,216 in 21,858 households, and a population density of 370 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Mot ...

Prefecture *Higashi Fuji Manufacturing Plant, 1200 Onyado Susono, Shizuoka Prefecture *Iwate Manufacturing Plant,

Kanegasaki is a town located in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 15,580, and a population density of 87 persons per km² in 6,155 households. The total area of the town is . In June 2001, the 34.8 hectare old centre of to ...

Iwate Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture at , with a population of 1,210,534 (as of October 1, 2020). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefectur ...

*Fujiko Manufacturing Plant, Susono, Shizuoka Prefecture

References

External links

* Toyota subsidiaries {{japan-company-stub