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Project cars go hack5/21/2023 In 1967, Kiichiro’s cousin and mechanical engineer Eiji Toyoda took over the presidency of the company and with Toyota’s chief engineer Taiichi Ohno, is largely credited with the development of lean manufacturing principals including the “Just-in-time” Kanban system, “Kaizen” continuous improvement and 5S organisational housekeeping. Sakichi’s son Kiichiro Toyoda then expanded the family business to automotive manufacturing and founded the Toyota Motor Corporation in 1937. You can’t talk about modern manufacturing without talking about Toyota and the 100 year Toyoda dynasty.īorn in 1867, Sakichi Toyoda, considered the “father of the Japanese industrial revolution”, reinvented the loom, dramatically increasing its productivity and set up factories to sell his inventions to the world. The book was the result of a five-year, five-million dollar research project to identify and understand key manufacturing principals that had enabled Japanese automakers to dominate their US and European rivals since the 1970s.Įngineering students around the world are encouraged to read the book as it provides an excellent history of automotive manufacturing, from Henry Ford’s development of mass production through to the lean manufacturing revolution which forms the basis of modern advanced manufacturing around the world. In 1991 a group of MIT researchers published a book called “The Machine that Changed the World”. 50 years on and the automotive giant has grown complacent, taking its market dominance for granted and developing a false sense of security. In the 1970s, Toyota led a manufacturing revolution that changed the world. The grandson of Toyota’s founder Kiichiro Toyoda, Akio has received a barrage of criticism in recent years for his failure to identify the world’s shift to EVs while pouring billions of dollars into white elephant technologies like hydrogen. ”I now need to take a step back in order to let young people enter the new chapter of what the future of mobility should be like.” “The new team can do what I can’t do,” he said in a statement. The second announcement made last week was that Toyota’s CEO, Akio Toyoda will stand down in April to make way for a new generation for the company. At the rate at which global EV market share is growing, Toyota will be lucky to retain a tenth of its 10 million unit market share in major market on that timeframe. ![]() Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun reported Toyota doesn’t expect to launch its EV range until 2027-28. The BZ4X design, which shared its platform with petrol and hybrid cars, meant its first fully electric offering had redundant components that resulted in much higher manufacturing costs compared to Toyota’s “clean slate” EV competitors. The first announcement was that Toyota would develop a dedicated EV platform after its disastrous half-hearted attempt with the BZ4X. But it may be too little too late for the company that revolutionised manufacturing half a century ago. It was extremely difficult giving back the keys.The world’s largest automaker made two major announcements last week which signal that it finally recognises that the future is electric. And yes, at the end of the day I mastered the reverse gear. If your car can't stop, don't go for 'go'. Can't wait to see what happens then.įootnote: You want to start a project car like this? Junayed's tips: Find a clean chassis, build up the brakes and suspension and then go for power. There's a future upgrade planned for this little rocket, that being coilovers and slightly bigger wheels to compensate for the drop. The ride is tight and extremely compliant on the 195 section 15-inch tires. Fast and beautiful, these old cars have a style that has aged very well. But this car has just the right amount of everything for everyday use. There have been newer, faster cars that made me giddy and excited all at the same time. Its strength lies in the mid revs from second gear onwards. Every stab of the accelerator makes the car lurch forward. It's been built from the ground up from a regular car to something that can scare you but in a good way. So what makes this car exceptional? This is a true project car like the others we've featured so far. ![]() I could drive this all day and not feel a thing. The car has Exedy stage 1 clutch and pressure plate, yet every gear change is like a regular 'normal' car.
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