The Prius That Shook.. - VFAQ Prius Site

technology. Since the Vehicle Development Center II is too
busy to take up the project, I will assign you to it."
Kubochi prepared a report to submit to the Board, and
Project G21 was officially started under his leadership to
study the Toyota car for the 21 st century.
Under Kubochi were 10 hand-picked middle managers
such as General Manager Matsubara of the Technical
Administration Division, General Manager Masanao
Motonami (now Director) of the Vehicle Engineering
Division I, and General Manager Hidetaka Nohira of the
Engine Engineering Division I. Another 10 people such as
Satoshi Ogiso were selected from Motonami's divisions as
working group personnel. Out of the 1,000 people
involved in developing Prius, Ogiso was the only engineer
that handled the project from the beginning of G21.
There is a good reason why most of the working group
people were selected from the Vehicle Engineering Division
I. This department develops bodies and basic chassis
parts, such as wheels from an ergonomic standpoint, and is
placed one step before the development of specific
products. Since G21 had hammered out the primary
concept for future cars as "small body, large cabin space,"
Vehicle Engineering Division I, which had been developing
cars based on the same concept, took on the central role.
However, the Vehicle Engineering Division I lacks
engineers that specialize in power trains (engines and
transmissions). So, several engineers from the Engine
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