The Prius That Shook.. - VFAQ Prius Site

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Line workers were urged to work faster to finish the tsukurikomi. However, development of some key parts, such as battery, was not finished at this time. In fact, development engineers were still working through problems even after Prius was presented. They made risky attempts until the very end. There was a reason why Prius was presented in October. In the Japanese auto industry, there are two competitions "Japan Car of the Year" and "RJC New Car of the Year." Those winners are selected by automotive journalists and critics from among the new cars and new models introduced that year. One criterion for inclusion in the contest is that the model must be presented by October of the year in question. In fact, when President Okuda ordered in December 1995 to move the launch date of Prius by a year, he also issued another order. "Enter to win Japan Car of the Year, RJC New Car of the Year, and all other possible awards." This order stayed in the minds of Uchiyamada, Oi, Yaegashi, and all others involved in the development of Prius. In the beginning, the order was considered just more pressure from above. However, as Prius began to take shape, they strongly believed that they were actually building something that deserved such awards. Naturally, they needed to build the best product of the year to receive the award. However, their efforts it would be useless if they could not present the car on time. That 355
was why it was imperative that Prius be officially presented in October. One surprise after another There was nervousness and excitement at the ANA Hotel in Roppongi, Tokyo. The Prius finally was to be revealed to the press. Many press members wanted to attend, and the presentation conference was held three times instead of the usual two. The first presentation was for newspapers and TV stations, and the second and third presentations were for magazines and independent journalists. The latter presentations were attended by more than 1,000 people, and even the largest banquet hall, "Phoenix Room," could not accommodate that many people. Toyota's public relations staff had never experienced such a huge response to a new car presentation. After the technical presentation of THS in March, Prius became a sensation and eventually a social phenomenon. Journalists not only from Japan but also from America, Europe, Asia, and other parts of the world came to see Prius. The first presentation was attended by seven Toyota executives: President Okuda, Executive Vice Presidents Wada and Kosuke Yamamoto, Senior Managing 356
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THE PRIUS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD HOW
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Preface September 28, 1998. That wa
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had of the company. However, they d
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Having watched Toyota for four year
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situation will last much longer. Th
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or drive train. A CE would select t
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later became the Chief Engineer for
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technology. Since the Vehicle Devel
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other hand, the Working Group consi
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Vehicle Engineering Division. Since
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manager Kubochi would be making the
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deadline was the end of 1999. After
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efficient and environment-friendly
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continuously supervise the division
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"Well, since there is no existing c
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development, opposed the idea in th
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Uchiyamada studied engineering at t
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I want to work on cars Toyota had s
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the performance of their cars and i
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An uncertain departure Ishida, who
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computers from other departments. A
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and were free of mental stress, and
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what kind of product to make." "Oka
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ergonomics. What seat height would
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Designing a car from scratch Every
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document, detailing how the decisio
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yet dealt with specifics, such as e
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suspensions for Prius. The Vehicle
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the same Torsion Beam suspension as
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improve the general riding comfort
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calculating the structure. Don't ev
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a task that eventually would be can
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Chapter 3 Selection of the Hybrid S
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serve as a production tryout vehicl
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The design of the show car progress
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Motor Show so that we wouldn't be t
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the most practical system in the sh
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Using the system on the Camry? BR-V
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systems. "It seems so risky no matt
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introduced in the `70s. Auto makers
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fourth. The four systems were studi
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camera just as he is trying to figu
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problems. I don't seem to be able t
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was electronically controlled, anot
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Manual transmissions (MT) use clutc
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known as a "radical" within Toyota'
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Uchiyamada was to take charge of co
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or diesel. Even though environmenta
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store hydrogen. Researchers are cur
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them to join his office. Matsui and
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in between. Unfortunately, the engi
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Chapter 4 Sudden New President - Hi
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Public Relations vs. the media The
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Ministry of International Trade and
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appointment of the new Toyota Presi
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consolidated business, Toyota was b
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date was the end of 1998. To him, t
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that he felt "the Chairman, as lead
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Chapter 5 California's CALTY - Desi
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in the Vehicle Development Center I
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on the interior for Prius. "Serious
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consumers by its successes in motor
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Uchiyamada, who was determined that
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opinion about the future even when
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Judges divided into two camps becau
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panelists remain anonymous. Objecti
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the exterior design selection proce
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furnished with a virtual-image info
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fan-shape opening towards both side
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see which body design would be chos
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wanted to get to work as soon as po
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Division II? Are you all okay?" Sli
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Chapter 6 Power Play - Engine When
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to eventually replace the existing
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Three conditions Yaegashi supervise
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There was a reason for Yaegashi's a
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section General Manager to supervis
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Environmental Protection Agency (EP
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submit official requests to the Hum
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Test prototypes also were built qui
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quiet at night, the whining noise f
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"Our calculation shows it is now 40
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attery that met the required perfor
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The leader's announcement About tha
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whole system, Kanei focused on the
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and immediately requested permissio
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degrees. On January 24 1997, Ninomi
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power. In that case, instead of usi
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Chapter 7 A Second Technology Divis
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little different. The technology di
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technology division began looking f
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years, Kubo had submitted requests
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most powerful on the market. There
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inverter and a transaxle, connected
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mistake. "You know the motor width,
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shaft, various phenomena in the mag
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significant, we would like to help
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the second was 0.25 millimeters thi
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cars of its class so it could not a
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their vehicle tests. The team used
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would replace internal combustion e
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then simply turn the plan around to
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In the end, the ten cases manually
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indispensable to achieve short-term
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Matsushita Electric Corporation. To
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made at an early stage because the
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eputable manufacturer. No one at To
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As a result, there was no way out f
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such as home air conditioning inver
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use on the Prius. He could easily s
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would come part. The heat would not
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that produced this material was a v
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completed by the end of April when
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electronic parts building at Hirose
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Suspicion As the engineers continue
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Naturally, the engineers at Electro
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under fire? What was the point of y
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in a chip by slightly changing the
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Many departments were complaining t
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Let's do whatever we can The chip f
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purpose. However, the layer with br
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conduct heat when there were air bu
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Prius' inverter is totally amazing.
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Center IV Vehicle Engineering Divis
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compact the Electric Vehicle Divisi
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the perfect layout by which to show
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The group tried dealing with this i
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experienced considerable difficulty
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generator and motor, stood up and s
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three-row system. There will be ano
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drastically smaller battery to be t
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Manager of BR-VF at the time, he ne
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A difficult heat problem The improv
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Ogiso, it was far from what had bee
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time, nobody would actually say so.
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handed the BR-VF leader position to
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Establishing a joint venture compan
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defective on the store shelf even t
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Battery. Since Tsujido Plant was ma
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difference between an auto maker an
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Selling to the world Another differ
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Chapter 11 The Two Product Planners
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the group. "We three members have f
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to feel that he wanted to work on a
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Let's share information Oi explaine
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decided to trust all workers who we
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and others issues. These resident e
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source of income. Antiquated sales
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Toyota Channel did not carry compac
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satisfaction. It was Motoyasu Muram
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Kamiya's honest opinion was that th
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Page 320 and 321: However, the initial braking power
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Page 324 and 325: needed to be looked at closely. Col
Page 326 and 327: Chapter 12 Human Network - Producti
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Page 350 and 351: "Well, it will depend on how many v
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Page 366 and 367: so that Toyota could maintain its q
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Page 370 and 371: was. In addition, he explained, "Th
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Page 380 and 381: major newspapers. Even before being
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