Takashi Yamamoto

ToyotaDevelopment lead

Chief engineer who decided to switch the 14th-generation Crown hybrid from a V6 to an inline four

Timeline

1982
Joined
Toyota Motor Corporation
Toyota Motor Corporation
1984
Toyota Motor Corporation
Product planning division
Toyota Motor Corporation Product planning division
2009
Chief Engineer
Chief Engineer
2012
Crown 14th generation
2012–2018Development leaduntil Oct. 2015
Worked with
Akira AkiyamaDevelopment lead from Oct. 2015
A four-cylinder Crown? No way
The hybrid launched with the 13th generation was a 3.5 L V6 and fairly expensive. For the 14th-generation hybrid, Yamamoto, thinking of the people who would use it, decided to drop the V6 and go with a 2.5 L inline four. People at the Toyota Store dealers that sell the Crown pushed back, saying a four-cylinder Crown was no Crown, and Hiroyuki Watanabe, who had led the ninth and tenth generations, even told him that if he was going to do an inline four, he would not be forgiven unless it was better than the V6.
2013
Executive Chief Engineer and Managing Officer
Executive Chief Engineer and Managing Officer
2014
Lexus International Executive Vice President
Managing Officer
Lexus International Executive Vice PresidentManaging Officer
2017
Mid-size Vehicle Company Executive Vice President
Mid-size Vehicle Company Executive Vice President

Takashi Yamamoto

Akira Akiyama
Subordinate
Akiyama worked on the thirteenth- and fourteenth-generation Crown, for which Terashi and Yamamoto were chief engineers, as an assistant chief engineer on the development team.
Mitsuhisa Kato
Superior
On the twelfth-generation Crown, Yamamoto worked under Kato as a project general manager, responsible for development from the initial planning stage.
Tetsuo Hattori
Superior
Yamamoto worked on the eleventh- and twelfth-generation Crown, for which Hattori and Kato were the chief engineers.
Hiroyuki Watanabe
Advisor
Yamamoto visited Watanabe to hear his views, and received the advice, "Aim for a car that suits its time."

From Nagoya. Graduated from Kyoto University Graduate School in 1982. Chief engineer of the fourteenth-generation Crown.

Translated from Japanese sources.