CarGene
Masahiro Fukuzuka

Masahiro Fukuzuka

DaihatsuDevelopment lead

After serving as development lead of the Move and the Mira, directed product development of all of Daihatsu's front-wheel-drive kei passenger cars

Timeline

  1. 1979

    Joined

    Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd.

  2. 1985

    Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. Product Planning Department

  3. 2002
    Move 3rd generation
    Move 3rd generation

    2002–2006Development lead

  4. 2002
    Mira 6th generation
    Mira 6th generation

    2002–2009Development lead

    Comparing It with Compact Cars, Not Kei Cars

    Mira owners had been in their 30s up to the third generation, but they had aged along with the car, and by the fifth generation they were in their early 40s. In planning the sixth generation, chief engineer Fukuzuka, concerned about this aging, carried out market research targeting young women. What he found was that to women, it did not matter whether the license plate was yellow or white. Sixty percent thought the Nissan March was a kei car, and 30 percent did not think the Move was a kei car. So the sixth generation was developed with domestic and imported compact cars, not kei cars, as benchmarks.

    Why the Direct-Injection Engine Was Not Paired with a CVT

    Only one grade of the sixth generation carried the newly developed direct-injection engine, because production of the engine itself could not yet be said to be on track. To draw out its fuel economy, they would ideally have paired it with a CVT, but "because the finished car would end up at an outrageous price" (Fukuzuka), they passed on it this time.

    The Mira Is a Car for Personal Use

    The sixth generation made the rear seat roomy within the confines of a kei car and cut the trunk accordingly. According to chief engineer Fukuzuka, Mira users hardly use the luggage space and put everyday shopping bags and hand luggage on the passenger seat or rear seat. The rear seat had no sliding mechanism either, "because it isn't needed." People who want to carry luggage can choose the Move, and "the Mira is more of a car for personal use," he says.

  5. 2005

    Executive Chief Engineer, Product Planning Department

  6. 2006

    Officer in charge of development for all kei passenger carsExecutive Officer

Connections

    Masahiro Fukuzuka

    Masahiro Fukuzuka

    • Shinsuke Hori

      Shinsuke Hori

      Same-year hire
      • Joined Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. in 1979

    Profile

    Executive chief engineer in the product planning department of Daihatsu Motor. After serving as development lead for the Move and Mira of the time, he took command of product development for every front-wheel-drive kei passenger car model.

    Translated from Japanese sources.

    Daihatsu engineers

    All Daihatsu engineers