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Kaoru Hosokawa

Kaoru Hosokawa

ToyotaDevelopment lead

As chief engineer of the IMV project, launched the seventh-generation Hilux with local production in emerging markets

Timeline

  1. 1979

    Joined

    Toyota Motor Corporation

  2. 1999

    Development Center 3Chief engineer (shusa)

  3. 2001

    Chief Engineer

  4. 2002

    IMV (Innovative International Multi-purpose Vehicle) Project

    2002–2011Development lead

    Models it produced

    Hilux 7th generation

    A bed sized by fruit baskets

    Because the seventh generation was not sold in Japan, it could be designed without being bound by Japan's 1,700 mm width limit. The size of the bed was set at the suggestion of the plant in Thailand, by how many standard fruit-transport baskets it could carry, so that it could carry at least one more than competitors. The width grew 60 mm over the previous model, yet the minimum turning radius shrank by 0.2 m.

    Hilux 7th generation

    I will take responsibility

    The seventh generation began as the IMV project. In the autumn, ten months before the launch at the plant in Thailand, checks to confirm development was complete turned up many unexpected problems, and Hosokawa's team considered delaying production trials by about a month. The people at the Thai plant said they would see it through without a delay, and just as Hosokawa was about to propose a delay at a meeting, Senior Managing Director Akio Toyoda, head of the Asia division, closed the meeting by saying to proceed as planned and that he would take full responsibility if anything happened.

  5. 2011

    Product Planning DepartmentRegional General Manager

  6. 2012

    Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. Tire Technology Development DivisionBoard Member

  7. 2014

    Left

  8. 2016

    Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd.Technical Advisor

Connections

Kaoru Hosokawa

Kaoru Hosokawa

  • Masahiko Maeda

    Masahiko Maeda

    Subordinate

    Maeda worked on the development of the seventh-generation Hilux under chief engineer Hosokawa.

Profile

Development lead for the seventh-generation Hilux. He served as chief engineer of the IMV (Innovative International Multipurpose Vehicle) project, which unified the platforms of the Hilux and the Kijang and developed five body types at the same time.

Translated from Japanese sources.

Toyota engineers

All Toyota engineers