Akira Akiyama

ToyotaDevelopment lead

Joined Toyota out of admiration for the seventh-generation Crown, and as chief engineer steered the 15th generation toward a sporty sedan

Timeline

1986
Joined
Toyota Motor Corporation
Testing Department (then the Testing Section)
Toyota Motor Corporation Testing Department (then the Testing Section)
2001
Toyota Motor Corporation
Advanced Vehicle Development Planning Office
Toyota Motor Corporation Advanced Vehicle Development Planning Office
2007
Toyota Motor Corporation
Product Planning
Toyota Motor Corporation Product Planning
2015
Crown 14th generation
2012–2018Development leadfrom Oct. 2015
Worked with
Takashi YamamotoDevelopment lead until Oct. 2015
2018
Crown 15th generation
2018–2022Development lead
Customers who are young at heart
When the 14th generation introduced the Athlete's crown-shaped grille and a pink Crown, some customers moved from the Royal to the Athlete. Akiyama believed that Crown customers, though older at an average of 65, are young at heart and highly receptive to advanced design. So the Crown made a fresh start as a single Crown combining the Majesta and the Royal, and the 15th generation was steered in a refined, sporty direction.
2024
ADVICS
Executive Advisor
ADVICSExecutive Advisor

Akira Akiyama

Shigeki Terashi
Superior
Terashi had been Akiyama's manager since Akiyama's days as a new employee, and Akiyama moved to product planning when Terashi picked him up.
Takashi Yamamoto
Superior
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.

Graduated from Yokohama National University. Chief engineer (CE) of the fifteenth-generation Crown.

Translated from Japanese sources.