Toyota – Moving Forward ?
Maybe they should reconsider that slogan, in light of their current issues with “unintended acceleration”. A little history: Toyota Motor Company was established in 1937 by Kiichiro Toyoda (6/11/1894 – 3/27/1952) who, by the way, would be experiencing his 4th Saturn return (nice Mercury/Uranus trine Toyoda-san). The corporate trademark registration dates to August 28, 1937 (see chart at end of post*). The Sun was @ 5º Virgo and the Moon in Taurus. Mars @ 9º Sagittarius (out of bounds), was conjunct the North Node at 11° Sagittarius (close to the US Sibley ascendant) and Mercury was @ 29º Virgo (close to where Saturn will station in late May of this year). Also, using the August 28, 1937 date, Toyota’s Uranus is @ 13º Taurus. Current CEO, Akio Toyoda (chart below), grandson of the founder, was born 5/3/56, his Sun is @ 12º Taurus. It might be more useful however, to use the chart for Toyota’s first trade on the NYSE, which was Sept, 29, 1999, 9:30am (see below). This “first trade” chart may give us a more accurate picture of Toyota’s international business and it’s current problems. In this chart, Toyota’s Sun is 5º Libra, it’s Moon 1º Gemini, and ascendant 6º Scorpio. The Midheaven, or MC is 13º Leo (which is the real clincher for me). Mars is out of bounds in Sagittarius, as it was in the 1937 chart.
Some basic rulerships, in case you aren’t familiar: Uranus rules automobile manufacturers. Uranus and Mercury co-rule automobiles. Mars rules acceleration, ie “moving forward”.
Toyota’s problems date back to 7/17/2003, when the NHTSA began a two month investigation of certain Lexus models. This involved acceleration controls and the investigation went nowhere (resisting all puns here). Mars was in Pisces in the shadow of it’s retrograde, conjunct retrograde Uranus. On August 5th 2005 The NHTSA began an investigation of 2002-2005 Toyota Camry, Solara and Lexus ES models. On that date, the Sun was conjunct retrograde Mercury @ 13º Leo, exactly on the MC of the Toyota “first trade” chart (see bi-wheel below).
On December 16th, 2005 the NHTSA recalled 3,567 Lexus IS 250 models for accelerator pedals that could become stuck in the depressed position due to carpet padding issues (to paraphrase). At that time Mars was @ 8º Leo in a T-square with Neptune @15º Aquarius and Saturn was @ 10 º Leo retrograde – conjunct Toyota’s MC. Do you suppose this carpet padding was the real problem? With the Mars / Neptune square, who really knows. But back to the investigation which began on 8/5/05 (you know, the one that started on a Mercury retrograde) On 1/5, 2006, the NHTSA said that the Office of Defects Investigation “has not identified any vehicle-based cause to explain the reports [of unintended acceleration]” or …any evidence of throttle problems (to paraphrase). But wait! there’s more! On 9/14/2006 the good ol’ NHTSA opened another investigation (as a result of petition) involving 2002-2006 Toyota Camry and Solara models. This time, transiting Mars was @ 4 Libra conjunct the company’s Sun (which rules the MC in the corporate chart). The CEO must have been contemplating seppuku. Camry and Solara owners began shopping for Honda Accords.
The NHTSA launched another investigation on 3/29/2007 involving the 2007 Lexus ES 350 model. At the time, Saturn was @ 18º Leo, Mars @ 24º Aquarius, Neptune @ 21º Aquarius, Mercury @ 12º Pisces, Uranus @ 16º Pisces, and the North Node @ 16º Pisces. Six months later, on 9/26/ 2007 a recall was announced to replace 55,000 floor mats in certain Lexus and Camry models. The floormats were supposedly causing gas pedals to stick, thus creating this unintended acceleration problem. That investigation was started on another inauspicious Mars / Neptune aspect. The company’s natal Venus is in the 10th house @ 24º Leo, and transiting Neptune is opposing it. If this were the chart of an individual, I’d say there was some possible infidelity, ie. “cheating” going on. The 10th house in a corporate chart is, among other things, the public image. Toyota has always enjoyed a positive public image, as indicated by Venus in the 10th sextile Mercury (in Libra) and trine Mars (in Sagittarius, OOB). The lunar eclipse of 2/9/09 fell at 21º Leo, about 3.5 degrees from Toyota’s natal 10th house Venus, which also rules the 12th & 7th houses. This could highlight hidden problems and call into question Toyota’s public image.
2008 came and went with other investigations and denials by the NHTSA, however on 4/8/2009, the NHTSA was back in action investigating a couple different Lexus models, which eventually resulted in the recall of several different Toyota models. There was a full Moon in Aries / Libra the following day (4/9/2009) which was conjunct the company’s Mercury. On 10/4/09 there was another full Moon, this time in Libra / Aries. On 10/5/2009, a recall involving 4.2 million Toyotas was announced. Mercury, in Virgo, was square Uranus, in Pisces, and conjunct Saturn. All this, and Saturn hadn’t even entered Libra yet, the company’s Sun sign. Saturn entered Libra on 10/29/2009 and would begin to transit Toyota’s Sun @ 5º Libra. Saturn stationed retrograde @ 4º Libra on 1/13/2010. On 1/21/2010 Toyota announced the recall of 2.3 million more vehicles to repair sticky accelerator pedals (see bi-wheel below). Mars, which had gone retrograde on 12/20/09 was exactly conjunct Toyota’s MC, once again triggering the TM “first trade” chart (see 8/5/05 above). When Mars is retrograde, “moving forward” can be difficult. Akio Toyoda was just quoted as saying that the company “grew too fast”. This is an interesting realization in light of Mars’ retrograde transit on the company’s Midheaven. When Mars is retrograde we are better served by slowing down and reevaluating our past actions (and not to belabor the point, but unintended acceleration). This helps us move forward – after Mars goes direct (3/10/10).
I’m not a financial (stock market) Astrologer and I would defer to the likes of Bill Meridian, Arch Crawford, and Grace Morris on those issues. However, if I were considering a purchase of some TM shares, I would wait. I don’t think we’ve seen the bottom yet. It’s my understanding that current stock prices tend to factor in future lawsuits and such, but with Saturn getting ready to make it’s way through early Libra, transiting Toyota’s natal Sun and eventually crossing Mercury @ 21º Libra (ruler of the 8th house – net earnings, lawsuits¹) I believe there’s still room for a deeper slide, possibly until the fall of 2011. Also, the Sun @ 5 Libra will be squared by transiting Pluto until at least the end of 2011, and Uranus in Aries will oppose the company’s Sun until 2013. The Sun is the 10th house ruler and represents the CEO. I seriously doubt that Akio Toyoda would ever step down, but considering these transits, I would expect some executives in the North American operations to be replaced. (Toyoda-san’s SA progressed Sun is @ 4º Cancer and his SA Mars is @ 2º Aries, so it won’t be easy for him). I suspect that by the end of May 2010 (Saturn direct, Mars out of the shadow of it’s retrograde) some determination might be made as to the cause of these acceleration problems. Toyota will survive, just as Johnson and Johnson did after the Tylenol poisonings of the early 1980s.
For those interested in the Astrology of automobile parts, there’s an interesting appendix in the book “Horary and Electional Astrology” by March and McEvers. It’s written by Michael Munkasey and lists virtually every car part and it’s house ruler. Some are pretty obvious. Toyota’s problems have involved acceleration and /or throttle (1st house, Mars), brakes (10th house, Saturn), and possibly electrical or computer functions (Uranus, 11th house).
Other notes: The National Highway Transportation Administration or NHTSA, was established on 12/31/1970 (Capricorn Sun, Aquarius Moon, Mercury retrograde at 2º Capricorn). I’m sure Pluto’s transit will transform this government agency as well, with changes likely being debated in early April and mid September as Pluto stations.
Toyota’s first trade chart Sun is almost 6º Libra (5º58″) and is conjunct the founder’s south node, at 6º Libra 40″.
* Using Toyota’s 1937 chart, the current tertiary progression reveals a Sun / Saturn conjunction at 4º Taurus – exact April 12, 2010.
Condolences to those who’s families have been destroyed by this tragedy.
© all rights reserved 2010, S.A. Hopkins
1. Business Astrology 101, Georgia Stathis (wonderful business Astrologer and a really nice person)
Timeline dates from the Consumer Reports website.
