[redwall_hp]

Toyota also owns Daihatsu, which is a lesser known name in the US, but is a major maker of kei cars, which are huge in Japan and other parts of Asia.

They also own Denso, which is the second largest auto parts company.

And they partner with Subaru on some things, such as the Subaru BRZ and Toyota GR86, which are basically the same car with different badging.

[kenhwang]

Toyota owns a de facto controlling stake in Subaru (~20%).

Due to typical Japanese corporation by-laws, it only takes 33% share ownership for uncontested control of a corporation, and >50% of 33% means they'll never lose a vote for simple majority matters, which is basically everything except selling or dissolving the company.

The 20% threshold is for a guaranteed seat on the board, which lets them put issues up for a vote.

[omega3]

> Due to typical Japanese corporation by-laws, it only takes 33% share ownership for uncontested control of a corporation

It doesn’t make any sense.

[kenhwang]

Think of it like how Zuckerberg only owns 13% of Facebook but has >60% of the voting power.

Japanese law allows corporations to only require 1/3 of voting shares present for quorum, and then a majority of those present to pass resolutions. It also allows cross-shareholders (like Toyota) to have special privileges over regular class shareholders (typically right of first refusal over any resolution).

In practice, nothing much will pass without the largest shareholder's approval.

[axus]

How would they prevent two owners from owning 35% each? Could owner A vote something on Tuesday, and owner B vote something different on Wednesday?

[kenhwang]

In theory, yes, if those shareholders each keep not attending the meeting called by the other shareholder, they could both independently pass or undo each other's actions.

In practice in a hostile situation, they'll be courting the remaining shareholders to gain majority and won't miss those meetings, which tend to also have rules about how quickly or often they can be called.

It is also legal and typical for the bylaws to include poison pill provisions that would automatically protect the existing >33% shareholder, preventing a second >33% shareholder from existing (thus requiring multiple smaller existing shareholders to join forces to overthrow the largest shareholder).

[hinkley]

They also owned a chunk of Mitsubishi Aeroplane and IIRC invested in Mitsubishi’s 787 manufacturing division.

[neogodless]

re: Subaru

Perhaps more relevant, the Subaru Solterra and Toyota bZ4X (renamed bZ for 2026) are on a shared EV platform.