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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.
