Spotted: Toyota in Japan

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As some of you may know, I recently traveled to Japan! After spending a week in Tokyo and Osaka, I'm happy to say that it's one of the best trips I've ever made. While there, I ate as much sushi and ramen as possible, walked through some of the most crowded streets and subway stations ever, and came across an exhibition of Toyota vehicles. Seeing the Toyota cars was great and a nice reminder of how crazily popular the brand is in it's home country- especially considering the fact that wherever I went, I'd easily spot a Toyota Prius in traffic. The Japanese love all things technological, efficient, and/or just plain crazy. That might explain why there was a giant robot standing outside one of the buildings near where all the action was going down!

Scroll down to view the photos and see for yourself.

The exhibition was huge. This projector was showing off clips from CEO Akio Toyoda.

This nifty map had a guide of some of the attractions- sadly, I couldn't find the iReal! 

The PHV- Prius Plugin Hybrid. Excited for this to become available in the states!

One of the nicest looking Prii I've ever seen.

And right next to it, the Aqua (Prius C) version.



 


Toyota's first sports car in over a decade, the GT-86- otherwise known as the Scion FR-S!

A Habañero Aqua. Does that make sense? If you're in Japan, then sure!

Another view of the exhibit floor. 

The giant Gundam robot in question. There was a small area around it that once had grass, but had been completely erased and turned into a field of dirt and dust from all the foot traffic coming to see this guy.

All in all, the trip was amazing, and it was great to see just how passionate the Japanese are about vehicle performance, as well as design. Would I go back? You bet. I should probably brush up on my kanji reading abilities first, though. The one thing I memorized during the trip was the symbols for Osaka, because it looks like the Eiffel Tower + the letters "BFX"!

大阪 

Should Your Boss Don a Racing Helmet?

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You don't have to be a big NASCAR fan to appreciate the sport for what it is: driving cars really, really fast. But when the CEO of Toyota decides he wants to travel to America to drive some laps around the Daytona International Speedway, heads are inevitably going to turn.

Just recently, Akio Toyoda visited to check out an early version of the 2013 Toyota Camry stock car (pictured below) and to meet with Toyota racer Michael Waltrip. In Japan, Toyoda is no stranger to the race track- he's a certified test driver and tests dozens of different vehicles every year, giving his engineers direct feedback as to what he likes and doesn't like. He's even finished the ridiculously long Nurburgring 24 hour racing event in Germany...multiple times!

While at Daytona, Mr. Toyoda drove several laps with veteran racer Kyle Busch, and commented on the future of Toyota and their involvement with NASCAR. "We are very honored to be accepted, to be included, into this bunch of people," he stated. "We want to continue this for a long time so that Toyota would become truly a member of U.S. auto companies, just like the Big Three in Detroit. And eventually we will be widely accepted by the fans." Toyoda then went on to mention that he hopes to ditch tired car designs of the past and to launch at least a dozen new, original vehicles over the course of the next year.

That's some pretty serious dedication and involvement from a CEO. In fact, a recently published study by the Journal of Business and Psychology shows the correlation between bosses and work morale. The findings claim that the more interactive a boss is, the more productive and happy the workers are overall. Seeing as how Mr. Toyoda also spent a good amount of time last year traveling to different Toyota plants and dealerships around the United States to boost employee spirits, I'd say he's on the right track (no pun intended!)

The concept and basis behind his travels, known in Japan as “genchi genbutsu”, suggests that for one to truly understand a situation, they need to “go and see” where work is done. Somewhat similar to what is done if you've ever seen the reality series "Undercover Boss".

What do you think of Akio Toyoda's involvement with his brand? Should CEO's be at the front lines on a constant basis? Do you personally feel motivated at your job when your boss is more involved with what you do?

Akio Toyoda: Upping the Fun Factor

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In a previous blog post, I wrote about how the disastrous earthquakes that struck Japan back in March affected Toyota dealers worldwide. Production was slowed immensely in order to recover from the damage done. In turn, inventory amongst Toyota dealerships saw a very noticeable decline. At one point, CEO Akio Toyoda was concerned, stating "...The earthquake happened and I was afraid we wouldn't be able to produce any cars until next year. And then just when we had recovered from that, we had the Thailand floods."

Fortunately, Toyota did make a recovery. Factories returned to 100% operating efficiency much sooner than planned, and Toyota will still produce roughly 7.8 million vehicles for the 2011 year. Dealer lots across the United States have gradually begun to fill up again with the Camry, Prius, and other models.

Now, Mr. Toyoda wants to move on past the disasters and up the excitement factor for the brand. Being an avid racer (Toyoda races under the pseudonym "Morizo" as part of the Gazoo Racing organization in Japan) he is very vocal with his opinions on Toyota vehicles, and believes performance is an important factor in one's enjoyment of driving. So much so that he is no stranger to dishing out criticism and feedback to his engineers. Toyoda recently made a few statements at the Tokyo Motor Show about the future of Toyota, touching on this notion. "Fun to drive was a slogan we had in the mid-'80s", he stated. "Now we have a new slogan- 'Fun to drive again'".

After making the announcement, he unveiled the Scion FR-S, the new sports car being developed jointly between Toyota and Subaru. Featuring 200 horsepower, a 6 speed manual or automatic transmission, rear wheel drive, and a low weight of around 2,960 pounds, the FR-S is designed to get car fanatics pumped. After seeing the photos, we agree!

Along with the FR-S, a futuristic looking vehicle, the Fun-Vii, was introduced. It's quite possibly the strangest (and yet sleekest) car we've ever seen. The exterior is fully customizable, akin to a giant video display screen. Functionality is also being worked on that will allow the Fun-Vii to connect with other surrounding vehicles and detect danger or road hazards in advance.

While the Fun-Vii is currently a concept with no known release date, the FR-S is set to debut next year. What do you think of Toyota's latest additions? Does Toyota need more "fun" vehicles like these, or should they continue focusing on green technology (such as the Prius line)?