Toyota's founder stepped down in 1950 and the family rebuilt the company

In 1950, Toyota faced bankruptcy: a recession and credit squeeze cut demand, a labor dispute over job cuts threatened the company, and banks made financing conditional on a reconstruction plan.

Toyota closed the Shibaura and Kamata plants on June 10, 1950, cut 2,146 employees to a headcount of 5,994, split off Toyota Motor Sales on April 3, 1950, and founder Kiichiro Toyoda resigned as president to take responsibility and restore confidence.

The Toyoda family stayed at the center of the rebuilt company: cousin Eiji Toyoda, who helped build the Toyota Production System, became president in 1967 and led growth into a global automaker; in 2008 Toyota sold 8.97M vehicles to GM's 8.35M, becoming the world's best-selling carmaker.

Toyota survived 1950, grew into Japan's leading automaker, and in 2008 sold 8.97M vehicles — more than GM's 8.35M — to become the world's largest carmaker.

Kiichiro resigned rather than defend his position, restoring lender and union confidence.

The bank-led plan separated manufacturing and sales financing, fixing the cash-flow problem.

Family engineers like Eiji Toyoda rebuilt production instead of leaving the company.

The discipline of the reconstruction became the basis of the Toyota Production System.

A founder's willingness to resign can save the firm: Kiichiro's exit restored bank confidence, and family engineers kept the technical core - Eiji Toyoda became president in 1967.

Toyota Motor and Toyota Motor Sales merged again in 1982 under Kiichiro's son Shoichiro Toyoda. The company became Japan's largest automaker in the following decades and the world's largest by sales in 2008, with the founding family still represented in leadership.