16 Oct 06
10-14 projects a year are turned into full-size clay models
What they haven't yet produced is a proper production car all of their own. That's not actually their job: they are meant to explore possibilities and feed their best ideas to Toyota's European and global headquarters.
Lance Scott, ED2's assistant chief designer, explains that everything starts as a sketch, and every year 10-14 projects are turned first into a scale model, then a virtual 3-D computer model, before making a full-size model. Some of those projects are concepts for complete cars, while others are interiors or details. A lot of work is focused on colours, with much inspiration drawn from non-automotive products from around the world.
Catherine Balthazar (left) is ED2's colour expert
ED2's colour expert Catherine Balthazar says: 'It's very important to know what's happening in other areas. We need to get information from all countries. But we don't just pick up existing colours as they are: we always adopt them for automotive use. We collaborate with our interior and exterior designers, and mix the colours ourselves.'
ED2 president Tokuo Fukuichi, who has been a Toyota designer since 1974 (with an eight-year break in the middle), says the essence of Toyota's design strategy is the 'j-factor', a fresh assertion of Japanese-ness, adapted for global consumption. One of his team's most important jobs is feeding back to Japan the views Europeans have about Japanese culture, to help HQ better understand the nation's perceived pros (hi-tech, manga, sushi) and cons (copycat tendencies, strangeness).
'We have the reliability and quality, the engineering and technology, but now this is the next step,' he says. 'We're trying to find our originality and we want to look at our character. We didn't know that young people had such a good, positive image of Japan.'
Laurent Bouzige
Response to the Auris in Paris was muted, but the earlier, wilder concepts, especially the Endo, have much to admire about them. However, Fukuichi says: 'I do not think the Endo is going to materialise in mass production.'
So will any ED2-originated design be turning up in our local Toyota dealer? 'Yes, some have been approved for the future, but no, we can't tell you what,' says Scott.
You look at concepts like the Endo, designed at ED2 by Laurent Bouzige and then you look out at the Avensises and Corollas in the car park, and you wonder. But then what do you know? If Toyota says interesting design can wait, then interesting design can wait.
