Read the following article and answer the questions. What do you think are Toyota's strategic assets? List at least three non-auto products that Toyota produced. Which of those make the best business sense? Why? Toyota couldn't car less The auto giant has diversified into some surprising areas. Looking for the biggest Toyota on the market? Take a trip to the Toyota factory in Kasugai, a city of 300,000 people west of Tokyo. The models on the assembly line don't amount to much in terms of acceleration or horsepower, but are they ever roomy - as in multiple bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, bath and patio. The Kasugai plant is one of three Toyota factories in Japan that make prefabricated houses. Just like Toyota's cars, these come with foreign- sounding names and plenty of options, such as solar roof panels and keyless entry. For those with a Corolla-size budget, the top-selling, 1300 square feet (121 square metres) Smart Stage costs about $US 175,000 ($235,000), excluding land. For the Camry set, there's the 1800 sq ft Espacio Mezzo, with three bedrooms and a garage, selling for about $US225,000, though add-ons can take buyers into Lexus territory, with one big spender paying out $US860,000 for a super-sized version. As Detroit's car makers have shed virtually all of their non-core assets, the world's most successful car company is heading in the opposite direction. Toyota controls dozens of businesses that have virtually nothing to do with auto-making, ranging in size from resort developer Nagasaki Sunset Marina (7 per cent owned by Toyota), with just five employees, to Toyota Financial Services Corp, a wholly-owned subsidiary with 8000 workers. Revenues for Toyota's non-auto businesses jumped 15-5 per cent to $US10.3 billion in the year through to March, and are up 50 per cent since 2003. While last year's total still represents less than 6 per cent of Toyota's overall sales, if floated separately, the company's sideline businesses would rank 192nd among companies in the S&P 500 index. Houses are just the beginning. The car maker owns 100 per cent of Delphys Inc, an advertiser with revenues of $US660 million; Toyota Amenity, a wholly-owned subsidiary that provides consulting services for hotels, wedding halls, and restaurants; Good Life Design, a 51 per cent-owned company, offers support services to medical institutions; and should its employees go hungry, Toyota could turn to Toyota Bio Indonesia, a grower and processor of sweet potatoes. As its name suggests, 70 per cent-owned, Tokyo-based, Toyota Roof Garden, designs and sells greenery for rooftops using peat from China. Many wonder what Toyota is doing in housing, roof gardens, and advertising. Kurt Sanger, an analyst at Macquarie Securities, says Toyota's wide-ranging interests mean it will have ample padding if its plans for global car domination fall short. "If things got really bad, they've got lots of things they could sell," he says