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Yasuhiro Sakakibara

Yasuhiro Sakakibara

ToyotaDevelopment team member / Development lead

As chief engineer of the seventh-generation Lexus ES, proposed and won its first introduction in Japan, and became the first engineer to serve as director of the Toyota Automobile Museum

Timeline

  1. 1988

    Joined

    Toyota Motor Corporation

  2. 1995
    Cynos 2nd generation
    Cynos 2nd generation

    1995–1999Development team member

  3. 1995
    Corolla 8th generation
    Corolla 8th generation

    1995–2002Development team member

    Worked with

    The Corolla after the bubble burst

    Among his memories as an engineer, Sakakibara names the Corolla after the bubble burst and cars stopped selling. Even then European cars were the benchmark, but although he wanted as an engineer to spend the budget and build the car thoroughly, it was hard to do, and that was frustrating. Even so, the Corolla of that time came not only as a sedan but also as a wagon and a hardtop, and in Europe also as a three-door hatchback and a five-door liftback, which he says is interesting looking back now.

  4. 2001
    Brevis 1st generation
    Brevis 1st generation

    2001–2007Development team member

    Worked with

  5. 2001
    Camry 7th generation
    Camry 7th generation

    2001–2006Development team member

  6. 2006
    Camry 8th generation
    Camry 8th generation

    2006–2011Development team member

  7. 2018
    ES 7th generation
    ES 7th generation

    2018–2025Development lead

    Visiting every past chief engineer

    When he was named chief engineer of the seventh-generation ES, Sakakibara felt considerable pressure. The LC and LS have the role of lifting the brand's image, but the ES actually sells in greater numbers, and building a car that didn't sell would have a big impact on the business. If the line ended with the seventh generation, it would be his responsibility. After much thought, the first thing he did as chief engineer, believing that the ES carried the feelings of everyone who had worked on it, was to go and talk with the chief engineers who had been in charge before. Some had retired and were doing other work, but he gathered what they had been thinking when they built it, along with past market reputation and customer feedback.

    Chief Engineer, LIZ Product Planning, Lexus International

  8. 2023
    LBX 1st generation
    LBX 1st generation

    2023–presentDevelopment team member

    Worked with

    Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd.Development lead for overseas models

  9. 2025

    Toyota Automobile MuseumDirector

Connections

    Yasuhiro Sakakibara

    Yasuhiro Sakakibara

    Profile

    From Kosai, Shizuoka Prefecture. A Toyota engineer. After working on product planning for the seventh- and eighth-generation Camry, he became development lead for the Lexus ES and worked on the UX, LM and LBX. He is director of the Toyota Automobile Museum, the first director to come from an engineering background.

    Translated from Japanese sources.

    Toyota engineers

    All Toyota engineers