Incidentally, Smith won his way onto the fast track at GM by working with Toyota Motor Co. to establish a joint factory in California, and also by running GM Europe.

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When Toyota Motor Co.

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The traditional model for a captive finance company is a wholly owned subsidiary like Ford Motor Credit Co. or Toyota Financial Services.

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Honda Motor Co. shares surged 14 percent, Toyota Motor Corp. jumped 7.8 percent, and Sony Corp. rose 9.6 percent.

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Toyota now accounts for about half the market and Nissan Motor Co.

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Toyota competes globally with other major automakers such as Honda, General Motors, Ford Motor Co.

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