Message from the Chairman and President
Firstly, we would like to extend our sincere appreciation foryour continued support of Toyota Industries Corporationand the Toyota Industries Group.
In fiscal 2017 (ended March 31, 2017), the global
economy mildly expanded, driven by monetary andfinancial policies in respective countries despite adeceleration of the Chinese economy and the anticipatedimpact of the U.K.’s decision to leave the EU. Althoughmodestly, the Japanese economy continued to grow due
primarily to increases in capital investment and exports inaddition to a recovery in consumer spending.
In this business environment, Toyota Industries
Corporation and its Group companies (“Toyota Industries”)
undertook efforts to ensure customer trust through a
dedication to quality first as well as to expand sales by
responding flexibly to market trends. As a result, unit sales
were strong in each business division; however, net sales
in fiscal 2017 decreased owing mainly to the impact ofexchange rate fluctuations. In terms of profit, despite cost
reduction efforts throughout the Toyota Industries Group,sales efforts and declines in depreciation costs, werecorded a decrease in profit because of the impact ofexchange rate fluctuations and an increase in labor costs.
With regard to the future economic outlook, the global
economy is expected to continue growing. However,uncertainties surrounding the business environment
preclude optimism, as the future trend in monetary easing
in respective countries, protectionist policies spreading indeveloped countries, a further deceleration of the Chinese
economy and the occurrence of terrorism and conflicts
around the world require close monitoring.
Under these circumstances, Toyota Industries is furtherstrengthening its business foundation and addressing key
management issues to raise corporate value by leveraging
the Group’s comprehensive strengths.
As immediate tasks, we will endeavor to bolster ourmanagement platform to respond quickly to changes in thebusiness environment that are accelerating year by year.
Specifically, based on our quality first approach, we aim tobuild a stronger production foundation by maintaining andimproving productivity on a global basis. Furthermore, wewill strive to build a lean corporate structure by thoroughly
eliminating waste, by pursuing excellence in quality, costand product lead time throughout the global supply chain
and by improving productivity in administrative functions.
Moreover, we will strengthen risk management in orderto quickly and appropriately respond to changes in theworld situation.

Besides these approaches, we will work to hone ourmanufacturing capabilities, which are one of our corestrengths, and further bolster product competitiveness.
To this end, we will differentiate Toyota Industries not
only through the development of technologies based on
the keyword of the 3Es, which we define as “energy,”“environmental protection” and “ecological thinking,” butalso through our production engineering technologies.
In addition, we aim to leverage new growth potentials
through several measures. They include taking advantage
of such structural changes as progress in electrificationand the rapid growth of e-commerce in the automobile andmaterials handling equipment markets on a global scale;creating and providing customers with new values; andutilizing the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence(AI). To support such business development, we willcontinue our efforts to create a workplace environment thatenables diverse human resources to fully demonstrate theirabilities and develop personnel who can play active roles in
the global arena.
In other areas, Toyota Industries will create a workplaceenvironment that places top priority on safety; thoroughly
enforce compliance, including observance of laws
and regulations; and proactively participate in social
contribution activities. By carrying out these initiatives,
we aim to broadly meet the trust of society and growharmoniously with society. With regard to protection of
the global environment, we will undertake Group-wide
initiatives in seeking to realize “a zero CO2 emissions
society in 2050.”
Through these initiatives, we aim for sustainable growthof each business and strive to contribute to an enriched
lifestyle and comfortable society around the world as
described in Toyota Industries’ Vision 2020 plan.
In closing, we would like to sincerely ask for your continued
understanding and support.
July 2017

Tetsuro Toyoda
ChairmanAkira Onishi
President
Chairman Tetsuro Toyoda (left)/President Akira Onishi (right)

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