Celebrating a decade of Toyota Connected North America Innovation.
“Why does a car that left Toyota’s assembly plant in six hours end up sitting at the dealership for weeks?” A question Akio Toyoda posed 25 years ago set into motion something that would grow into far more than a tech company.
Toyota Connected was founded on the belief that the latest technology should solve real challenges for real people. An idea that proved relevant far beyond Japan’s borders.
As connected vehicles began reshaping the automotive landscape, Toyota Connected North America (TCNA) was formed to carry a vision forward, playing a pivotal role in launching the first mass-market connected vehicle and helping to lay the groundwork for the future of mobility.
To mark TCNA’s 10th anniversary, the team paused to commemorate the journey the way it has always worked best: together. Together, they unveiled a second mural, captured in a montage of each brushstroke, not just a timeline, but a thread, present from day one and revealing how technology truly matters when it makes someone’s life better.
Watch the wall come to life (above) – every stroke traces a piece of the story.
The early days of TCNA were scrappy and full of heart – energy you can still see in the first strokes of the mural. Team members showed up to work before the building had walls, driven by the kind of purpose that doesn’t wait for perfect conditions. That energy went straight into building the foundation of the connected vehicle ecosystem, launching safety services that gave drivers peace of mind and building the first vehicle data platform that would power connected experiences for years to come.
In partnership with Toyota groups** across the globe, those early breakthroughs grew into something much larger. One team member’s personal curiosity and a tiny Raspberry Pi became a voice agent now used by Toyota and Lexus drivers around the world. Another team’s willingness to take a chance on a user experience idea put them front and center in the latest-generation Toyota Audio Multimedia and Lexus Interface.
Over the past ten years, TCNA has touched millions of customer experiences – including roughly 16 million vehicles and 6.5M telematics calls, each one another stroke on the wall. From a calm voice on the other end of a Safety Connect call when the unexpected happens, to the seamless connected features drivers rely on to direct them to a dealership for service, entertain them on their commute and more, TCNA has helped deliver critical services to Toyota and Lexus drivers.
As the final brushstroke dried on the mural, it became clear the painting was never really about the past. It’s a celebration of why this TCNA team builds what it builds and a reminder that the red thread has always connected the people behind the technology with the people it was built to serve.
*The first mural marked the start of the Toyota Connected story. See more here.
** Toyota Motor North America Connected Experiences team, Toyota Motor Corporation and other Toyota groups.
