All language subtitles for The Cars That Built The World S01E04 Winning The World Over

- [narrator] previously on
"the cars that built the world."

ferdinand porsche makes a
bdangerous deal with hitler.S,

- you wanna fill the streets
of germany with cars?

Let me design them for you.

- It's easy to see
why ferdinand porsche,

would like this idea.

He was a brilliant engineer
and a bit of an egomaniac.

- [narrator] in japan,

the quest to modernize
pushes kiichiro toyoda

into the unknown.

- Cars? I know
nothing about cars.

- [narrator] while
soichiro honda,

pursues his car making
dream by powering bicycles.

- He attached a
generator to a bicycle,

that prototype became the
first honda motorcycle.

- [narrator] now in the
aftermath of world war ii,

these visionary
inventors must innovate

and take on america's big
three car makers to survive,

as benz,

daimler,

maybach,

rolls and royce,

ford,

bentley,

porsche,

honda,

and toyoda create, "the
cars that made the wilt the "

(car engine revving)

(upbeat music)

- [soldier] papers.

This is a french pass, sir.

- Yes, I know but I
was told that I could-

- you need an american pass,

you gonna have to turn around.

- Please look at the pass again.

- I've seen the pass. Look
I've got strict orders not

to let anyone through
without an american pass.

- Please let me through.

- Turn the car around or I'm
gonna have to arrest you.

- [narrator] one year
after world war ii ends,

ferry porsche is
released from prison,

where he's been held
as a nazi collaborator,

but the world he finds
outside has changed.

- After the war, germany was
literally divided into zones.

There were very strict barriers
about who could move where

and who was allowed in
which part of germany.

- [narrator] cut off from
his home base in stuttgart,

his company's future
is in jeopardy.

With nowhere else to go, ferry
returns to austria where he

and his father
retreated during the war

to continue supplying
the nazi war effort.

A few months later,
ferry porsche,

one of germany's premier car
makers, is designing tractors.

He knows it will take much
more to bring porsche back,

but building a car
could be impossible.

- The whole situation
was very difficult

because there were
no parts available

and no material all.

- [narrator] but the parts
he needs for his dream car,

could be right here,

on the volkswagen.

- Ferry porsche always
wanted to make a sports car

with his name on it.

But in the years
after world war ii,

he couldn't really get his
hands on specialty parts

or produce new parts for
this sports car project.

- [narrator] with
no other options,

he realizes the only way
forward is to turn to the past.

Half a world away, in japan,

the postwar outlook
is just as bleak

with a third of its
factories destroyed

and the rest lacking
fuel and supplies.

Japan's industry is stagnant.

While allied bombs have left
almost 9 million homeless.

- Postwar japan
was a tough place.

I mean, the country was
devastated by the war.

So much was bombed, there
was not a lot of money.

There are material shortages.

The restrictions
were very strict.

(liquid pouring)

- [narrator] in the devastation,

the market for soichiro honda's
motorized bicycle grows.

But with gas strictly rationed,

honda turns to the black market,

a risky move.

In the seven years of
occupation after the war,

1.2 million japanese are
arrested for illicit trading.

(police officer
knocking on the door)

- how can I help you, sir?

- Just doing the rounds.

What's your name?

- Honda, soichiro honda.

This is my bike shop.

I fix motorcycles,

bikes, a bit of a mechanic.

(upbeat music)

- what's this?

- [narrator] to mask the
smell and avoid arrest,

honda mixes his gas
with turpentine.

- It's turpentine it's
made from pine sap.

- All right mr. Honda,

stay out of trouble.

- Will do, sir.
Thank you so much.

- [narrator] honda's deceptive
fuel mix has done its job.

- He's clean.

- [narrator] but it's only
a short term solution.

The american occupation force
not only acts as enforcers

of the law, but as
ambassadors for democracy.

- American leaders
decided that they needed

to help rebuild the
japanese economy.

China had gone communist
and japan was seen

as a counterweight to china.

Macarthur handled a very
difficult job brilliantly

and essentially remade
japan in the image

of a peace loving democracy,

something it had not
been before the war.

- [narrator] as the u.S.
Helps reinvent japan,

honda tries the same
with his motor bikes.

- Honda kept evolving his bikes.

And one of his main philosophies
was that he wanted everyone

to be able to use them.

What he realized was that
women had trouble using them,

when they were wearing
dresses because

of the way that the
bars were positioned.

So he decided,

I want to create something
that would be user friendly

for young men and women.

- [narrator] but
removing the crossbar,

creates a new problem.

There's nowhere to
mount the engine.

- Honda just always knew that,

there was an
engineering solution

to any problem he encountered.

And he would come up with a
way to solve those problems.

(upbeat music)

- [narrator] as honda
searches for a solution,

kiichiro toyoda is limited to
making u.S. Military vehicles,

but he's desperate to find a
way to produce civilian cars.

- So at this time
passenger car production,

was restricted and the u.S.
Military put in an order

of 50 vehicles to
be built by toyoda.

Toyoda was so committed to
building a passenger car,

that they kind of bent the rules

and snuck in four prototypes,

which would become the toyoda sa

and added them to the order.

- Please.

- [narrator] he's built the
four prototypes at a huge risk.

Exhausting the last of
his company's resources.

- So let's get to it.

- General, those four cars,

in no way affected the work
we were contracted to do.

It was on our own time.

We used our own money.

- Your car, the top brass.

They love it.

- I see.

- [narrator] the
gamble pays off.

- The u.S. Military
loved them so much,

that they gave toyoda the
green light to go ahead

with production cars.

- Thank you, general.

- You're welcome.

- [narrator] toyoda is clear
to begin full production

of the model sa,

a four cylinder two-door,

modeled after the
volkswagen beetle.

But ramping up will
require massive investment.

In the midst of a
postwar recession,

the company needs a loan.

To get it, the bank of
japan demands toyoda cut 40%

of its labor force,

something kiichiro's cousin

and fellow executive eiji
toyoda, find shocking.

- Kiichiro, you're putting
hundreds of people out of work.

- This isn't what anybody wants.

Sometimes there is no choice.

- Kiichiro toyoda's obligation
was also to his people.

It was almost like
one big family.

It was almost like you
or I firing our children.

- I failed,

and it's time for me to go.

- [narrator] convinced
he's let down his country,

his family and his workers,

kiichiro resigns.

- I'm stepping down.

- [narrator] hopeful
of fresh start,

gives eiji a shot at
realizing his dream.

- Kiichiro toyoda's vision
was to make passenger cars

and after he resigned,

he asked,

"please help me with my
vision make passenger cars."

(somber music)

- [narrator] as kiichiro
toyoda walks away

the u.S. Economy booms
raising household incomes

by some 20%.

In europe, the marshall plan
pumps the modern equivalent

of $130 billion into
postwar recovery.

The investment helps bring
germany's auto industry back

from the brink,

creating an opening for ferry
porsche's new sports car,

built almost entirely
from volkswagen parts.

- Ferry porsche understood
how to make the most out

of the limitations
that he was given.

So what he ended up doing
was really revolutionary.

(bright upbeat music)

- [narrator] ferry spends two
years building his first car.

Finishing in 1948

and paying the french
for his father's release

from prison, for
suspicion of war crimes.

- Something I wanna show you.

- He revamped this design
into the porsche 356,

the quintessential sports car.

(ferry's father laughing)

- the engine?

- It's flat four but
35 horsepower

touches 85 miles an hour.

- From the volkswagen?

- Same gear box
and suspension too.

- Porsche overbuilt
the volkswagen engine,

which gave his son
a really easy way

to open the breathing of
that engine up with a pair

of carburetors and then
you get all of a sudden,

a much more powerful engine.

- Let me show you how it sounds.

(car engine revving)

- [narrator] to make room,

ferry removes the
volkswagen's backseat,

creating the first
in a long line

of iconic porsche roadsters.

- Let's take it for a ride.

Yeah?

- It's lightweight and it makes
the most of a small engine.

It's a joy to drive.

It has that classic silhouette,

that we see in every
modern porsche out there.

- It's extraordinary,
like what ferry did,

basically just working
on the foundation

of a volkswagen, a bug.

And he took that and he
transformed it into the 356,

the most iconic
sports car of its era.

- [narrator] while porsche
finds a way forward

with his 356,

in japan...

- I call that the cub type f.

- [narrator] soichiro
honda is in trouble.

His designs are revolutionary,

but his company is
still losing money.

- Soichiro honda was
not a great businessman.

He was out of his element.

He eventually had
to get a partner

to handle the business
side of things.

- All I needed to do was move
the engine to the back wheel.

You see?

- How many of these
have you made?

- [narrator] to
save his business,

he looks to takeo fujisawa,
a top salesman

for one of japan's largest
steel companies.

- This is what's next.
- Mr. Honda.

- So I'm thinking we
could probably put a rack

at the back-
- mr honda!

I know nothing about engines.

I know business.

- Of course.

- And yours...

- Fujisawa saw in honda
a brilliant inventor,

a brilliant creator of machines.

- There was just not
a solid business.

- [ ben] and he saw
that the products,

are making lives better.

- Let me handle that.

The only thing you
need to focus on,

is this.

- He became like the go to guy
for dealing with suppliers,

dealing with dealers,

anything financial to help
honda expand his business.

- You got yourself a partner.
(laughs)

come on, there's something
else I wanted to show you.

- [narrator] with fujisawa
bringing order to the business,

honda is free to
focus on innovation.

(upbeat music)

as japan continues to
struggle, in postwar america,

the boom accelerates.

The middle class is
growing with good jobs

and plenty of money to spend.

Between 1945 and 1949, americans
buy over 4 million tv sets,

5 million stoves and over
20 million refrigerators.

But there's no industry
rigging it in faster than cars.

- America had no
economic competitors

and the price of oil was at
$3 and 50 cents a barrel.

And it looked like it was
gonna be blue skies for decades

to come.

- [narrator] by 1950,
led by the big three

of ford, general
motors and chrysler,

the u.S. Is manufacturing
over 5 million cars a year.

No other country is even close.

Ford alone turns
out 8,000 a day.

Toyoda on the other hand
has made only 2,500 cars,

in 13 years.

Eiji toyoda sees only one way
to save his family's company,

make cars that can
compete in the u.S.

- Eiji toyoda was serious
about kiichiro toyoda's mission

of creating a global car
company as kiichiro toyoda was.

He had the baton handed
to him and now it's his job,

his lifelong mission

to make toyota a
successful company.

- [narrator] to learn from the
best, eiji travels to detroit

and studies the operations at
some of ford's largest plants.

- After the second world war,

the idea that japan would be
any sort of a threat to detroit

was absolute fantasy.

- [narrator] underestimated,

eiji toyoda takes
full advantage,

spending over a month
learning all he can

from the americans.

- With ford being the
pioneer of mass production,

it was, turning out cars
at an unbelievable rate,

but eiji toyoda also noticed,

that there were many
inefficiencies in the plant.

- [narrator] he returns
from detroit with a plan.

- This ruler is
the assembly line.

These erasers, are workers.

- [narrator] his mission,

maximize productivity
on the assembly line

by re-imagining it.

- It's productive, but
it takes so many people.

What if we did this,

reshape the line, in a u shape.

- He came up with this
revolutionary new way

of running the assembly line.

Instead of each
assembly line worker,

only installing one component
over and over on every car,

individual workers had more
responsibilities and more tasks.

- One person in the middle,
eliminates two people.

We can build our cars
with one third the men.

- This made production
more efficient,

which made it cheaper
to build each car.

- [narrator] eiji toyoda's
five year plan aims

to completely reinvent
the car making process.

- Efficiency, that's
how we take them on.

- [narrator] and
start making cars.

- Any questions?

- [narrator] the toyoda way.

(upbeat music)

- [narrator] in 1949,

u.S. Car makers crank out
over 5 million new cars,

competing with america's
big three, isn't easy,

but ferry porsche
has broken through

with his beetle
inspired sports car.

Still, getting the porsche
356 into mass production,

is a problem.

- 80% of the components
in the porsche 356,

came from volkswagen.

It's hard to explain just
how limiting this was.

- [narrator] to build
his new sports car brand,

ferry needs a break.

- We need access to
vw's infrastructure.

- [narrator] he finds one

with volkswagen's new
president, heinrich nordhoff,

who's after porsche's
engineering expertise.

- We'll share the patent
of the volkswagen with you,

but a percentage of every
beetle sold goes to us.

- [narrator] the deal
would give porsche access

to volkswagen's parts,
service and distribution,

while providing volkswagen
cutting edge design.

- Volkswagen had the
industrial might.

They could produce
huge quantities

of pretty much anything
that would be needed.

And porsche had engineering
and design chops,

that potentially could help
volkswagen in the future.

- Your father should be proud.

- Porsche became like the
think tank of volkswagen

and they inspired volkswagen
with many new ideas.

- Our success will
become your success.

(upbeat music)

- [narrator] but just two
years into the partnership,

ferdinand porsche passes
away at the age of 75.

Now on his own,
ferry turns to racing

to bring attention to the 356,

taking a page from a car
making legends like w.O bentley

and entering the 24
hours of le mans.

- The big deal about le mans
is that it's a 24 hour race.

It's an endurance race.

- [narrator] though half of
the cars failed to finish,

the 356 shocks the world,

taking the 1.1
leader championship.

(crowd cheering)

- which is incredible
because most manufacturers,

end up failing for years
before they finally succeed.

And he really established
the porsche brand.

And they'd been winning
at le mans ever since.

- [narrator] for toyoda,

success is coming slower,

but eiji's revolutionary
production process,

is now delivering their
most advanced car ever,

the toyopet crown.

- It was a huge accomplishment
that toyoda finally had made,

their own car that they
designed and they could deliver

to the japanese people.

- Most of the streets in tokyo
were pretty narrow and rough

to say nothing of
the countryside,

but because of its
more robust axles

and frame the toyoda crown,

could handle japan's
infrastructure better.

- [narrator] eiji toyoda

believes they could
soon be ready

to sell cars in the u.S.

But there's a problem.

- They're trying to push
us out of the market.

- The american government
was starting to see a threat

of too many overseas
imports and was starting

to develop legislation
for protectionism.

- [narrator] without access

to the world's
largest car market,

toyoda's potential
is severely limited,

leaving only one option.

- If we don't
respond now, we lose.

Get the team together.

We're going to
launch in america.

- It was an incredibly
risky move and toyoda wanted

to get a foothold into
the u.S. Market before any

of these laws would
close them out.

- [narrator] in 1957,

toyota sets up sales
offices in california,

taking a chance as the
first japanese car company,

in the united states.

Meanwhile,

soichiro honda is
working on something new.

A breakthrough product for
his new business partner,

fujisawa.

- Fujisawa wanted to
sell a motorcycle that

would mobilize japan
in a dramatic way.

He wanted something that
would be easy to use,

no matter what your
riding skill was.

- [narrator] honda's
game-changing answer,

the super cub.

- Do you like it?

- It's very impressive.

- The super cub is
an amazing vehicle

because it's kind of a
hybrid between scooters

and actual motorcycles.

It has full-size wheels
like a motorcycle,

but it's also a
step through design

with a fairing on the front.

So he just made up this
whole new category.

- We could sell 30,000
of these, a month.

(honda and fujisawa laughing)

- [narrator] with the super cub,

honda has more than
a breakthrough.

He creates a revolutionary
new mode of transportation,

a motorcycle for everyone.

(upbeat music)

- with the super cub,

the motorcycle became less of
a big and scary thing

and more of a little friendly
device that anyone could ride.

- It became the single
most popular motor vehicle

of any kind in the world ever.

Over a hundred million have
been sold over the years.

- [narrator] the super
cub's worldwide success,

convinces honda, he
can soon build cars.

But for eiji toyoda,

(telephone ringing)

who's raced into
the u.S. Market

with the domestically
successful crown,

international expansion
is proving more difficult.

U.S. Buyers are not impressed.

- How did this happen?

This is an embarrassment.

- It really wasn't suited
for the kinds of terrain

and distances and scales
that you saw in america.

- The crown couldn't
keep up with traffic.

It often overheated and the
ride wasn't that smooth.

- And frankly,

it just wasn't the kind of car
that american buyers wanted.

- It was pretty
humiliating for toyoda.

- [narrator] as toyoda fights

- [narrator] by 1959,

porsche is making some of the
world's greatest sports cars,

and dominating le mans.

With ferry at the helm,

and his son butzi joining
the family of designers,

porsche summands its legacy
with an iconic new car,

the 911.

Released in 1963 and
built on the air cooled

foundation of the
volkswagen n356,

the 911 has eight
times the horsepower

of the original beetle.

- The 911 was certainly a
bigger, more modern sports car.

It had six cylinders
instead of four,

but it was very, very
clearly an evolution,

of that 356 design.

- If you take a look at the 356,

then you take a look at the 911

and the 935 behind me,

they all have that porsche dna.

- [narrator] but it's another
car designed by the porsche's,

that's leading the
german resurgence,

the volkswagen.

The beetle is selling
in the millions abroad,

and is now taking
off in the u.S.

- When the baby boomers
started coming of age

during the 1960s,

they had to
distinguish themselves,

by rejecting their
parents' values.

Now, the volkswagen
beetle was so different

from anything that you could
see coming out of detroit,

that it made a
statement right there.

(soft music)
(air whooshing)

- [narrator] thanks in
part to it's iconic,

counterculture image,

the people's car breaks
through the u.S market in 1961,

selling over 150,000
beetles to american buyers.

It's success opens the
door for smaller imports

to take on the u.S market.

But as the beetle succeeds,

japanese cars haven't
yet made a mark.

- We've all failed.

(clanking)

- [narrator] the failure
of the toyopet crown

has cost toyota millions, and
severely damaged its brand.

- Toyota learned
the hard way about

what the american
market demanded.

- We gave him chrome.

Curved glass, top of
the line upholstery.

But the dealers are complaining
about the power and ride.

- [narrator] in the u.S,

gas guzzling muscle cars
made by america's big three

are what buyers want.

Not small underpowered imports.

- There's no doubt the
toyopet crown was a failure,

but in toyota's philosophy,

they believe that there's
no such thing as failure,

it's just learning
opportunities.

- [narrator] for eiji toyoda,
the solution is simple.

Listen to the customer.

(upbeat music)

- they just went back
to the drawing board,

and they reworked the kind
of car they were gonna make.

- This time we're
getting it right.

Let's get to work!

- [narrator] meanwhile honda,

who sold millions
of motorcycles,

still hasn't made a car.

Now concerned that too
many domestic car companies

are making low quality vehicles,

the japanese government acts,

threatening to close the
market to any company

yet to make a viable car.

Companies like honda.

- Honda is really

facing an existential crisis.

If they can't be

registered as a car maker
under the new government rules,

they might never be
able to make that leap.

- Honda immediately
fast-tracked production

and development
of his first cars.

(tense music)

- [narrator] honda spends
millions making prototypes,

determined to prove
he's a worthy car maker.

(soft clanking)
(tense music)

- he said stick to
making motorbikes.

- What?

- The cars.

He wouldn't classify
them for passengers.

Not a single model.

- [narrator] the problem
with honda's prototype cars,

lies with the engines.

- So what honda
ended up building,

was tiny cars,

that were powered by
motorcycle engines.

And they weren't really
successful as automobiles.

- The engines were
extremely high revving,

even had chain-driven rear
wheels like a motorcycle.

- This wasn't what the japanese
government was looking for

in an automaker.

(loud clanking)
(tense music)

- [narrator] faced
with a roadblock,

honda decides to try
something drastic.

- I'm gonna make a race car.

- What?

- If we make a
race car that wins,

there's no way they'll stop
us from making passenger cars.

- [narrator] but he doesn't
want to make just any race car,

he wants to compete
in formula one.

- Entering formula one

was a typically
ambitious honda idea.

- It's like if I were to decide,

I'm gonna win the decathlon
in the olympics next year.

Not going to happen,
but you know,

maybe if soichiro honda was
re-engineering me it might.

(upbeat music)

- we'll show them.

Consumer car making
now rides on success

at the highest
level of car racing,

formula one on the 1964
grand prix circuit.

- Mr.Honda really has
remarkable courage.

He takes on challenges that
most people would only dream of.

I mean, he throws his
company into formula one,

against the might of
people like ferrari.

- [narrator] powered
by a revolutionary

motorcycle-based engine,
honda's car is one of a kind .

12 small cylinders
revving at an incredible

13,000 rpm producing
230 horsepower.

But in its first full season,

honda's car fails to
finish a single race.

(soft clanking)

the next season,

(soft clanking)

it burns out,

as faulty piston rings
cause an engine meltdown

at the 1965 british grand prix.

But true to his
problem solving style,

honda rebuilds his race car.

And in the next season's
final race, shocks the field,

winning the mexican grand prix.

- Honda going from

not producing cars to
winning a grand prix race

in under five years is amazing.

- Congratulations!

(crowd clapping)

- [narrator] the victory
confirms honda's

car making ability

and the government's threat
to lock him out evaporates.

A year later, he debut's
his first passenger car,

the honda n360,

- before that honda is known

for motorcycles and scooters,

and after your first
grand prix race,

well that is a different
animal altogether.

(tense music)

- [narrator] as honda
takes home the cup,

eiji toyoda is
convinced he's found

the winning formula for
success in the united states.

(tense music)

- this.

Let's get this into
production straight away.

- Edgerton had figured out that

to penetrate the us market,

toyota needed to be

the best in the world

at creating small
fuel-efficient cars.

- [narrator] built with
increased efficiency

to control price and
maximize quality,

the new car is released
in the u.S in 1968.

(engine roaring)

- zero to 60 in 12.6 seconds.

- [narrator] it's called,

the corolla.

(air whooshing)

- by the time toyota started
to build the corolla,

they had already
almost perfected

the chain of production system.

So they could compete on costs,

and also give
additional features

that the americans could not
afford to add to their cars.

- Reclining bucket seats.

- Wow, carpeting.

- You are hooked.

- The toyota corolla offered
automatic transmission,

power windows, leather interior.

All of these things

that were considered
luxury options,

for a very affordable price.

♪ get your hands on
a toyota corolla ♪

♪ the plushest basic
transportation in the u.S.A ♪

- [narrator] the corolla
is an immediate hit.

And by 1972, it pushes
toyota to a major milestone.

One million cars sold in the u.S

it's now the second best
selling import in america,

behind the volkswagen beetle.

Meanwhile, honda's
racing to claim its share

of the compact car market.

And on July 11th that same year,

the first honda civic
arrives in the u.S.

- It was a small compact
and very practical car,

but it was also fun to drive,

and it was incredibly efficient.

The honda civic quickly
became one of the most popular

compact cars sold in america.

From that point on,

there was always
this constant battle

in the marketplace between the
civic and the toyota corolla.

- [narrator] then just
three months later,

honda sees an opportunity
to gain an edge.

As most car makers
scramble to comply

with the 1970 clean air act,

and major pollution
controls going into effect,

he declares publicly that
he'll design an entirely new

cleaner burning engine.

Domestic car makers on the
other hand, just add a part.

- The solution the most
american car companies

were going with,

was the catalytic converter.

But in using these, you
lose a lot of power.

So the big three were not happy.

- [narrator] in less than
two years, honda delivers.

Introducing the cvcc
engine to the world.

- The way it works is you
burn a very small amount

of super concentrated fuel,

and that allows your
engine to run smoother,

and make more power while
reducing the emissions.

It was revolutionary.

- [narrator] desperate to
meet emission standards,

ford and chrysler license
honda's patented technology.

(click)

- you need to see this.

- But general motors
not only refuses,

it's ceo publicly insults
honda engineering.

- The head of gm,
richard gerstenberg,

he issued a statement when
asked about if gm was interested

in licensing the cvcc
technology for their cars,

where he basically said,

"that kind of thing is fine
for the little toy motorbike

engines they make over at honda,

but for a real car engine
like we make at gm,

there's no way it
would ever work."

and he said this in
like a press conference.

(tense music)

and soichiro is not going
to just let that slide.

(tense music)

- get me an american car.

An impala.

- Soichiro honda
ranges for a brand new

5.7 liter chevy impala,

to be air freighted
all the way to japan.

And he has his
engineers re-engineer

the entire intake
system of the car,

to incorporate honda's

cvcc technology,

on this massive big gm v8.

- [narrator] when honda ships
the impala back to detroit,

it passes the toughened emission
test with flying colors.

- I can't think of a
bigger smack down mic drop

in all of automotive history,

than soichiro honda,
sticking it to gm.

- [narrator] powered by the
revolutionary cvcc engine,

the honda civic
will go on to become

the sixth best-selling
car of all time.

While honda proves his
point to the americans,

it's toyota with the corolla,

(crowd clapping)
who becomes

the ultimate winner.

- While honda was willing to
take more engineering risks,

the cvcc engine for example,

toyota was very
methodical when it came

to their improvements.

The corolla was kind
of that sweet spot.

- Toyota's production
system was so efficient,

they were able

to build the corolla
with many more features

than you could for the same
price in an american factory.

- Toyota struck gold
with the corolla.

- [narrator] in 1974,

the corolla outsells every
other car on the planet,

with over 600,000 units sold.

- From eiji toyoda's
perspective,

that had to be an incredibly
satisfying moment.

If you look back
20 some odd years,

when he was invited
to the ford factory

to check everything out,

because they didn't
think of him as a threat,

to all of a sudden being one
of the biggest new competitors

in the automotive landscape.

- And it really launched toyota
as one of the elite players

in the global field.

- [narrator] in 1997,

the corolla reaches over
22 million in sales,

passing the volkswagen beetle,

to become the best
selling car of all time.

It goes on to sell almost 50
million worldwide and counting.

Today, toyota is a leading
car maker because of its focus

on production efficiency.

But it's the efficiency
of the cars themselves,

that's now revolutionary.

- The future is more than
likely not going to continue

with combustion engine cars.

Electric vehicles have proven
that you can make a car

that drives and performs
as well or better

than a combustion car,

with a 10th of the
amount of moving parts

and zero pollutions
from the car itself.

- I believe the future
of cars is electric.

The performance is
pretty mind numbing.

- And in a lot of ways,
where electric cars now are,

is sort of where
gasoline engine cars were

in the early 1900s.

They're just now established.

But if you look deep
into the future,

it's clear that's where
things are heading.

(soft piano music)

- the car industry

is probably the first
truly global industry

that mobilized the world,

and those early pioneers
really changed the trajectory

of mankind.

- It's hard to think
of another invention

that has had a greater
impact on our lives.

I think we're living

in the most exciting
era of the automobile

since it was invented more
than a hundred years ago.

Today we're sitting at
the dawn of all of these

new advanced technologies.

- [narrator] these
new innovators,

follow in the footsteps of
the cars' first trailblazers.

- 50 years from now,

the internal combustion
engine may be dead.

And it's exciting to see
what will replace it.

This is the most revolutionary
era in car design since

carl benz invented the
first car back in 1886.

And it's thrilling to
be alive to witness it.

- [narrator] wherever
the future leads,

it will be built
on the foundation

of a few visionary pioneers,

as the next generation
of inventors,

leads us into a new world.

Searching for that spark,

of inspiration.