, Columnist
Toyota's Squeezed Middle
A hallowed formula may have lost its relevance as sales diverge between SUVs and electric cars.
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If there's a secret behind Toyota Motor Corp.'s rise to become the world's biggest carmaker, it's been getting the unspectacular basics of manufacturing right more effectively than anyone else.
Whereas Tesla Inc. claims a grand overarching purpose to help move the global energy industry away from fossil fuels, the 14 principles of the famed Toyota Way are so dryly process-oriented that many are all but incomprehensible to those who aren't supply-chain managers.