Toyota Intensifies Design Effort

2006 Lexus GS

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Toyota, long considered the auto industry’s most efficient carmaker, is moving to put more emphasis on design.

During a recent appearance at the College for the Center of Creative Studies in Detroit, Hideichi Misono, senior general manager of the Toyota Design Center, said his company is steadily expanding the scope of its design efforts. “We are expanding our design base throughout the world because we believe it is important for design work to be done in direct contact with the daily lives of our customers in the places where they live,” said Misono, a veteran stylist who joined Toyota back in 1969 and who was among the first employees at Toyota Design Center in California when it opened in the 1970s.

One-third of Toyota designers now have had experience of studying or being stationed overseas, which is useful in ensuring the company has a global sense of view, Misono said. “In order to increase our hiring of foreign designers, we are actively expanding our internship programs,” added Misono, who also noted that Toyota completed a new design building at the company’s headquarters.

Lexus stands alone

Misono explained that a key reason for expanding Toyota design base is to help create more separation between Toyota and Lexus, which in 2005 will go a sale as independent brand in Japan for the first time. “Distinguishing the identities of the two brands more clearly is an extremely important issue,” he said.

The Lexus GS unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit is a concrete example of the new, more expressive design philosophy that will be applied to all Lexus vehicles in the future.

“The GS, while it looks simple and sleek at a glance, also possesses an artful, even sculptural, quality. The reason for this is to provide the basis to create a high contrast design language,” Misono added. “It is artistic and yet creates an entirely new type of dynamism,” he added.
Misono, however, said the designs of vehicles carrying the Toyota brand also will be animated by a new philosophy — dubbed “vibrant clarity.”

“This is not a philosophy that seeks to give all Toyota vehicles the same shape. Toyota has always focused on achieving the optimal design solution for each of its many models. This has led to a situation where each model has its own distinct color but seen as whole the Toyota lineup appears lacking in focus and direction,” he added.

“We intend to use the Vibrant Clarity philosophy as a unifying concept, tying together strategically managed design groups. This will maximize the width of Toyota’s lineup and create a new, clearer brand identity,” Misono added. Toyota will work at creating a consistency among the core models both through design language and brand cues such as grilles.

“From a global standpoint, Japan has many positive connotations. Integration of the ‘J’ factor into our products is essential but it does not necessarily mean only Japanese undertake this task. From a form point of view, J-factor relates to innovative and futuristic shapes that redefine the way we interact with the vehicle,” Misono added.

Misono said in an interview after his lecture that every one admires the Toyota Way. “One of the chief criticisms we hear is our designs lack emotion,” Misono said. “From our professional point of view our designs sell very well but sometimes they are lacking impact. We are a quiet people — not outspoken,” he added.

Misono, however, noted that Toyota also is very good at establishing goals and meeting them — and one of its goals now is to gain a competitive edge with a stronger design presence both inside the industry and on the showroom floor.