The Prius That Shook.. - VFAQ Prius Site

General Managers of departments in charge of
technology, production, production technology, and sales,
as well as Executive Vice President Wada, were to be present
at the review.
A panel review also was scheduled. Several hundred
panelists chosen from non-technology sections in the company
were to judge by scoring the designs, based on 20 or 30
criteria. The selected design would become the official design
after receiving the approval of the President and the Members
of the Board at the final review in September. A vehicle
design is almost never rejected at the final review, so that the
occasion is in fact a presentation of the final design.
The panel review method is said to have originated in
the United States, and today many auto makers are using
the method for design decisions. It is considered to be the only
way to achieve an evaluation of a design that is close to one
achieved by using consumers. Since companies want to keep
confidential their designs in the development-stage and
are not willing to show them to the public, a review by
panels of company employees is deemed closest to a review by
a public panel.
The panel consists of people in many different age groups
from young workers to those near retirement age. They
work in many different areas from management to factory
floor, and there also are many women on the panel. A panelist
does not necessarily have to have a driver's license. To keep the
process strictly confidential,
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