Six years ago, Toyota Motor Corp., the Japanese auto giant, split off its sales finance companies from the various sales divisions and realigned them into a newly formed global financial services holding company. With the restructuring, Toyota executives also raised their performance expectations of the financial services operations, and judging from the growth at its largest subsidiary, U.S.-based

Toyota Financial Services (TFS), the move has more than paid off. Based in Torrance, Calif., TFS has responsibility for financial and insurance services for Toyota's North, South and Latin American operations, as well as, increasingly, other parts of Toyota's global operations. With assets under management nearly doubling to $57.7 billion since 2002, TFS now ranks as the third largest captive finance company in the U.S. In fact, the financing arm has been so successful in recent years that it contributes 75% of the operating income of Toyota's worldwide financial services operations.

It helps, of course, to be attached to one of the world's most successful brands at a time of acceleration. Nobody gives it a second thought anymore that Toyota will likely soon become the world's leading auto manufacturer, up from third place less than five years ago. But underneath the hood at Toyota Financial Services are a series of innovations that have moved the company to the top