Back to the high-power future

Executive Vice President Masatami Takimoto and other officials are re-engineering Toyota, borrowing elements of the past to tackle 21stcentury environmental challenges.

Masatami Takimoto joined Toyota Motor Corp. in 1970 upon earning a master's degree in mechanical engineering at Kyoto University. Most of his work at Toyota has been in product development, mainly in engine-related technologies, his official bio reveals. Appointed Executive Vice President in June 2003, Takimoto has been responsible for Toyota's quality, power-train, and future-technology research and development, including fuel-cell-system development, of which he was chief officer.

Takimoto, who is also responsible for Toyota's entire engineering activities, is re-engineering the company's great engineering sanctum. The organization had been restructured 16 years ago during the thoroughly researched, developed, and implemented FP21 (Future Program-21st Century), under the leadership of then-Executive Vice President Yoshiro Kinbara.