Tough times for Japan’s flagship corporate giant, Toyota. This is the firm that gave the world lean production, an approach that was so revolutionary in its time that it prompted a five year study by MIT academics who wrote the famous book with the title ‘Machine that Changed the World’.

Toyota is now the world’s biggest carmaker but has just reported its worst annual loss (and first loss since 1963) as the global economic downturn has hit demand for its vehicles.

Toyota’s troubles are thought to stem from:

Over-capacity in the industry. Toyota is cutting output, along with other manufacturers
High raw materials prices
A strong yen, which makes its cars more expensive overseas.

See the BBC video clip here.