El primer día del Proyecto de Conducción de Suramérica para el Equipo 3, los miembros japoneses fueron a la oficina de Toyota Argentina S.A. (TASA), donde asistieron una reunión informativa sobre las leyes de tránsito argentinas. Escucharon con gran atención mientras veían señalización y reglas de cambio de carril locales en una pantalla grande. Cuando se cambia de país, también cambian las leyes viales. También, existen reglas “no escritas” de tránsito. Para mantenerse seguros durante el viaje, los miembros japoneses no podían perderse ni una sola palabra de la explicación que les daban los miembros argentinos. Después de la reunión donde se explicaban las implicaciones serias de conducir en Argentina, el equipo salió a realizar una prueba de manejo. Cuando el equipo salió a las calles, rápidamente notaron que las condiciones de manejo eran completamente diferentes a las de Japón. Hasta en las calles de un solo sentido, frecuentemente encontraron autos estacionados a ambos lados de la calle, lo cual hacía calcular el espacio para poder pasar difícil. Encontraban baches por todo lado, y los caminos de tierra consistían de arena fina que reducía la visibilidad drásticamente. Después de la prueba de manejo, Hirai, el líder del equipo, tuvo un mensaje para sus compañeros. “Compruebe las condiciones y respeten el uno al otro. No se olviden confirmar las condiciones. Hagan de la seguridad su máxima prioridad sin excepciones.” Todos los miembros tomaron su mensaje a pecho. Comenzando la travesía desde el lugar más austral de las Américas. El día siguiente, el equipo tomó un avión hacia Ushuaia. Mientras que se podía utilizar una camisa manga corta en Buenos Aires durante el día y aún sudar, el clima era diferente aquí. La temperatura llega a menos cero en los días más fríos del verano y puede llegar a los -20℃ en el invierno. Personal en una concesionaria comenzaron a preparar los autos para la travesía. Okamura de la División de Pruebas de Vehículos de TMC le preguntó al concesionario local porqué los autos Toyota eran tan populares aquí. Dio dos importantes razones: la calidad de su servicio posventa y su alto valor de reventa. Con el clima tan frío, el herrumbre producto de los compuestos que derriten la nieve y daños son un problema real, y las personas debían reparar sus vehículos con frecuencia. Los Toyotas tenían una reputación por su valor.

“Además, las condiciones del camino son notablemente diferentes comparado con Japón – algunas veces con arena fina o piedrillas grandes. Hablé de esto también con EGM Morimoto, pero pienso que también sería bueno reevaluar la distancia libre al suelo de los autos destinados para venta en regiones con climas más adversos.”

La noche previa a la salida estaba llena de emoción, y se tuvo una fiesta de despedida donde asistió el Sr. Herrero y el Sr. Kato, Presidente y Vice Presidente de TASA respectivamente. La siguiente mañana, el Equipo 3 comenzó su conducción por la etapa suramericana del Proyecto de Conducción de 5 Continentes. Después de la ceremonia de apertura, el equipo condujo hacia el norte en caravana. Manejaron por caminos montañosos esa primera mañana. Los caminos no presentaban muchos retos, pero por esta misma razón los argentinos tendían a conducir a altas velocidades. En la tarde, el equipo condujo por un camino de tierra que se extendió por más de 100 kms. Nonaka disfrutó de conducir una SW4 (Fortuner) y agradecía su estabilidad de conducción a pesar de la facilidad con que cambia el clima en la región y los fuertes vientos cruzados. Los vientos de la Patagonia soplan con más fuerza de lo esperado. Para conducir hacia el norte, el equipo primero tenía que atravesar parte de Chile. Salieron de Río Grande hacia la ciudad fronteriza de San Sebastián. El viento era más fuerte que el del día anterior. El concesionario en Ushuaia indicó que el Etios era el modelo de mayor venta. Sasaki de la División de Desarrollo de Técnicos Maestros iba abordo un Etios este día. Comentó, “En el camino de tierra de ayer, el vehículo perdía estabilidad cuando conducíamos sobre los 80 kph. El viento sopla con fuerza hoy, y me cuesta conducir en línea recta, por lo que constantemente tengo que corregir la dirección hacia la izquierda.” Sasaki se crio en Hokkaido, y conducía en condiciones donde tenía que poner atención en los hoyos que tienden a aparecer en los climas fríos.

“Conducir aquí es similar adonde me crie en algunas formas, pero en una escala diferente. Hokkaido no cuenta con caminos tan largos en línea recta como estos.”

Después de cruzar la frontera Chilena, tuvieron que tomar un transbordador de autos para cruzar nuevamente hacia Argentina. El servicio del transbordador, sin embargo, fue suspendido debido a los fuertes vientos, y nadie sabía cuándo se iba a reanudar. El Etios es un auto compacto, pero su excelente espacio en su primera y segunda fila de asientos alivió el estrés de estar dentro del auto por un tiempo prolongado. A pesar de eso, el auto no es tan bueno en resistir los vientos fuertes. Las puertas no abrían sin empujarlas con fuerza. Tampoco aísla el viento muy bien, por lo que el equipo podía sentir ráfagas de aire frío mientras esperaban dentro de él. Sasaki le preguntó a Daniel de TASA si esto era un problema para clientes locales. El precio fue otro problema que surgió. No hubo fin a las conversaciones que se trataban de las modificaciones que se le podían hacer al auto. Esperaron un buen tiempo en el muelle de transbordador, pero pasaron el tiempo hablando de autos. En la noche, se reanudó el servicio del transbordador.

Buscando lo que quieren los clientes

La siguiente mañana en un concesionario en Río Gallegos, el equipo se topó con la Land Cruiser 200 y una Hilux con estribos laterales protectores, quienes han venido a servir como símbolos del Proyecto de Conducción desde su primera etapa en Australia. El Proyecto de Conducción de 5 Continentes es una serie de etapas interconectadas alrededor del mundo, y la llegada de estos vehículos vino a enfatizar este significado. Luciano es un ingeniero de producto en TASA. Dice que la razón por la cual quería trabajar en Toyota es que quería experimentar otra cultura y obtener una mayor perspectiva.

“Lo que tiene Toyota que no tienen las demás compañías es que crece siempre pensando en el punto de vista de los clientes. Me alegra mucho tener la oportunidad de participar en este proyecto. Estamos conduciendo a lugares que nunca había tenido oportunidad de conocer, aunque están en mi país. Espero descubrir muchas cosas.”

El ruido que provenía del viento dificultaba las conversaciones dentro del Etios. Luciano pensaba que eso era un problema. ¿A qué nivel el ruido llega a ser inaceptable y requiere de mejoras? Dijo que deseaba descubrir cosas durante la conducción que no había experimentado antes de primera mano. En la noche, el equipo llegó al El Calafate. El viento continuaba soplando con fuerza.

Driving along a road with the deep blue Pacific Ocean spreading out before their eyes was a refreshing sight for the team, which had just finished driving through the high, dry plains of the Andes. While a road hugging the coastline sounds picturesque, in reality the wind was blowing in from the Pacific with such force that it battered the cars. The road stretched out endlessly before them. Sub-Captain of the team Adachi realized that there were almost no walls in Chile to block wind. “I hardly get tired driving on long straight roads like those in the interior. But it’s hard to drive straight here when you’re going fast. The car pulls in the direction of the wind.” If the steering were more responsive under straight driving conditions, it might boost Toyota’s product strength. This thought went through Adachi’s head after driving on the highway for several hours. Goto from Toyota Planning Division 1 is a team member with an administrative job. He says, “Even though my understanding of cars can’t compete with our engineers, I hope to discover different things from a perspective similar to customers.” While driving on the highway, Goto pointed out how difficult it was to read his digital watch. Drivers on Chile’s highways use their headlights in the daytime, which causes digital watches to switch their brightness to nighttime mode. His digital watch face is barely visible with sunglasses on. How much are local driving customs taken into consideration? How much are specifications able to differ? Does eye color affect visibility? Goto had a sea of questions to take back with him to Japan.

Getting buried in sand makes the team think again about a car’s power.

Under the direction of Masahiro Terada, who has raced in the Dakar Rally, the team spent a day driving on a special stage—a dirt road that was part of the Rally course. A driver uses a navigator to read the map and feed the driver course information assigned to each car. The team worked together to complete the challenge of driving on the up-and-down dirt road course. They had to battle the road, but the four-wheel driving was also exciting. The team even seemed to relish digging out a car that got buried in the sand, knowing that they were lucky to have this extraordinary experience. The driver of the Hilux that got stuck, Yasunaga from the Public Affairs Division of Myochi Plant, comments, “ABS is about the only control system I’ve experienced on regular roads so far. But today I experienced firsthand the auxiliary support provided by a number of systems and saw how important they are.” Okano, who is involved in developing self-driving technology as part of the Chassis Advance Development Division, was satisfied with the day’s drive, but had a sudden sobering thought on the way back. He said he realized just how much cars had helped him out in the past. While control systems are effective at avoiding dangers in front of a car, he says he became painfully aware that they are no help if the car gets stuck, and that self-driving technology is still not feasible on dirt roads where conditions are difficult to judge. “First, people want cars that run properly. It feels like I’ve been told this in no uncertain terms.” How much of a bubble had Okano been working in? Okano laughed dryly, as the roads of South America burst his bubble about the outsized importance of his work.

The goal is a turning point, with genuine smiles waiting on the other side.

In Team 2’s goal of Santiago, a large group of Toyota Chile employees were waiting to welcome the Drive Project team to their grand finale. Tanaka of the Master Skills Division, who has participated in all of the past Five Continents Drive Project legs, discussed the trip with a relieved look on his face, saying, “This one was the toughest yet. The high altitudes were rough. But no matter what country we were in, seeing the roads and the cars driving on them was fascinating.” Many team members appear to be looking at South America differently after their genchi genbutsu experience. The locals in the driving destinations of Peru, Bolivia, and Chile who animatedly told the team about what they needed from their cars seem to have struck a chord with Yamada of the Prototype Division. He says with self-admonition, “I realized that I can’t lump specifications for South America together in the ‘Other’ category.” Staff from the Latin America Division in Japan say that they have a very hard time getting feedback from Latin American locations incorporated into development. It’s hard getting other people to understand the real problems people face from something like dirt getting in their car. There’s also the problem of the distance from local markets. But better cars are most definitely possible if these problems get resolved one by one. The Drive Project team members will keep driving toward their true goal in South America. They know that the smiles waiting for them are too many to fit in the “Other” category.

Departing from the ancient capital of Cusco, sometimes called the belly button of the Inca Empire, the team once again drove into the Andes. Spending day after day ascending mountain slopes brought a range of questions to the fore. What bothered Morimoto from the Vehicle Technology Development Division was the gear ratio going from first to second in a Yaris. But when he asked Joel from the local crew if he thought it was a problem, Joel did not express dissatisfaction. Cars on the road in Peru frequently overtake slow-moving trucks. You would think that cars without a lot of power like the Yaris would have a hard time, but apparently locals don’t think it’s so bad. Adachi, the assistant team leader, had the same question. He thinks drivers might make up for the lack of power with their driving technique. “Take the fact that you don’t see mirrors put up around curves in Peru. Under these conditions, drivers are aware of accidents and are in the habit of communicating their intent to other drivers. It seems like they communicate with each other when they overtake vehicles too.” For Morimoto, who was trying to find out what dissatisfied local drivers, Toyotas had an unexpectedly good reputation. But he was taken by surprise when he heard that wearing a watch got in the way when the driver changed seat positions. The steering wheel is on the right in Japan, and when inspecting vehicles, Toyota staff cannot wear a watch to prevent any scratches. Morimoto took to heart the idea that you have to question even the things you have been taught to take for granted. Finding the driving performance demanded in Peru. When Eduard from the local crew heard that one driver’s license classification in Japan is limited to automatic vehicles only, he laughed and asked quizzically, “Why, Japanese?” The ratio of automatic to manual transmission vehicles in Peru is 3:7, and one reason is price. There’s the impression that older technology is easier to fix on one’s own when something goes wrong. You almost never see Priuses in Peru. This can be largely attributed to people believing that electronic parts are prone to breakdowns, as well as the fact that diesel engines make up about 50% of the Peruvian market. Diesel is cheaper than gasoline and performs well at low rpm. LPG vehicles running on domestically produced natural gas are also a common sight. We heard that many taxis buy new gasoline-engine cars and then immediately convert them to run on LPG. Miyazaki from the Vehicle Technology Development Division, who was previously involved in developing the Land Cruiser, was disappointed to not see many of them in Peru. “People want a car that’s even ten thousand yen cheaper.” This impression became stronger with each city they visited. The things we wanted to affirm driving around the world. The old road leading to Arequipa, a former capital of Peru, was a rough dirt track that used to be part of the Dakar Rally route. Two engineers were basking in a glow of satisfaction in direct contrast to the treacherous road—Kunimasa from the Body Design Division and Owatari from the Drive Train System Managing Division. When asked why they were participating in the Drive Project, they both said the same thing: They wanted to get to know cars better. Even though Kunimasa’s profession was design, he would make a wry face and say he was still learning. He is aware of how easy it is to lose sight of the fact that he’s involved in making cars when he doesn’t ride in competitors’ cars and doesn’t readily get feedback from owners in his job. Owatari feels the same. His development work is typically based on information gained from car markets, but this trip was the first time he was able to experience many things firsthand. He found out a lot, like how a 4.0-liter Prado performed surprisingly poorly in the highlands, while diesel engines ran surprisingly well even at high elevations. The realizations from genchi-genbutsu were very much being etched into the team members’ minds. Old Toyotas are zipping around Bolivia. After entering Bolivia, the team encountered one old Toyota after another on their way to Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat in the world. They found a weathered HiAce in an arid rural town with an odometer that read 999,999 km. The team was taken by surprise when the owner said that he drove 600 km a day, and when their local guide told them that was typical for this area, they were left speechless. They encountered a used Noah in Salar de Uyuni that was being employed as a shared-ride taxi. Used cars imported from Japan cannot be driven as is—they first need to have their steering wheel switched to the left side. The team was full of gratitude at seeing Toyotas kept running for so long, but they were a little concerned about safety. Hayakawa from the Vehicle Technology Development Division commented, “I want to go to a body shop and see what their process is and check on safety.” The team very quickly saw the demand for inexpensive, durable cars in Bolivia. What features were needed, and what could be left out, in delivering “ever-better cars” to South America? The members searched for their own answers as they drove across the white salt flats that stretched to the horizon.

The Japanese crew looked out of the car windows apprehensively at the streets of Lima. They were riding with staff from Toyota Peru on a demonstration drive. Getting out of a car, Yamada from the Trial Production Division grumbled, “There are no rules... It’s no good. There’s definitely going to be accidents.” The team members’ faces had tensed up just hearing about the local traffic conditions and unwritten rules of the road even before driving training had started. They couldn’t help but feel worried about what lay ahead on their journey as they suddenly came upon broken traffic lights, saw three-wheeled taxis cut into traffic at the slightest opening and buses muscle their way forward, and heard the unending stream of car horns. Indeed, this environment is exactly what the team had been looking to experience. Adachi from the Performance Testing Division gritted his teeth on the day’s drive through the city, saying, “We have to stop thinking that countries like this exist and start thinking that there are a lot of countries like this.” Required performance on streets filled with hazards. The landscape quickly changed as we left the chaos of Lima and approached the Pan American highway and onward. The asphalt road cut a long ribbon through the dry land surrounded by dunes. It stretched for around 240 km to Nazca, famous for the geoglyph designs etched into its earth. Cars overtake each other all the time in Peru, and this highway is no exception. If you’re behind a slow-moving truck, you readily want to pass it, but there’s only one lane in your direction, different from Japan where most highways are separated lane traffic. You have to gauge the distance with oncoming vehicles and accelerate quickly to overtake the truck. Many of the Japanese team members gripped the steering wheel and broke a sweat doing this. Owatari of the Drive Racing Systems Managing Division, said local team member Luis, who was driving a RAV4, also visibly exhaled as he overtook other vehicles. “He was complaining that the car didn’t have enough power. He put the car into manual on purpose and downshifted before accelerating.” It seems that Owatari has learned some things about how cars are used in this land and what people expect from their cars. Under poor road conditions like these, the team was forced to again pay attention to the importance of basic running, turning, and stopping performance. It’s the same with safety performance. Hayakawa, of the Vehicle Technology Development Division charged with the missions of repeating collision tests and pursuing safety, comments, “In Japan, you wouldn’t imagine a collision where both vehicles were going a hundred kilometers per hour, and some people might even think those tests are unnecessary. But as long as there are countries like this, we have job security.” Ever-better cars in demand on the other side of the earth. The drive team departed Nazca and immediately climbed up to highlands 4,500 m above sea level. Although suffering from altitude sickness, the team could not help but be amazed by the grandeur of the landscape. Occasionally they would spot animals like alpacas, vicugna, cows, and sheep amid the scenery. Hayakawa peppered Skyno from the local crew with questions—“Are those domesticated animals?” Passing a small hut perched on a cliff, “What about water and electricity?” “How do they get to town?” From his normal work you would think he would only be interested in local safety management conditions, but he most wanted to know how people lived their lives in this country. “Pursuing safety is of course important, but that can’t be all. If you spend all your budget on safety, some people will no longer be able to buy your cars, like the people here.” After getting to Peru, Kanemori from the Performance Testing Division noticed that a lot of cars had broken headlights. “They must get broken from all the people who force their way into traffic. I’d like to recommend LED lights from a safety standpoint, but they’re expensive, so halogen bulbs might still be in higher demand.” Asked what he thought, Eduard from the local crew replied, “LED are nice and bright, but a little spendy.” Kanemori, who believes that the concept of ever-better cars differs from country to country, was satisfied at gaining this backing for his belief. Driving the mountain passes in the Andes. The conversation at driver change point rest stops while traversing up and down a series of mountain roads 3,000 m above sea level increasingly turned to the subject of power. The Yaris had no problem driving on city streets, but performed disappointingly on the mountain roads. Diesel engines demonstrated surprising power even at high elevations. The Prius possibly performed the best on winding roads. There was no end of things to talk about after getting over several mountains. While driving on a mountain pass, Eduard of Toyota Peru asked what auto body colors were popular in Japan. Red is the most popular color in Peru, followed by black and silver. He said his wife drove a red Corolla. Asked why people choose the color red, he said red was easy to see in the streets and on mountain roads. It’s interesting that safety is a reason why people choose their car’s color. Drivers in Peru also honk their horn a lot. This too is for safety—as a form of communication signaling the car’s presence to others around them. The horn is also highly effectively on the winding mountain roads that the team is driving on each day. The Japanese crew is even now smartly sounding their horns while driving through the Andes.

A project started in 1990 to protect the hyacinth macaw, a species of blue parrot listed as endangered. The project conducts field research on the macaw’s ecosystem in the Pantanal and sets up nesting boxes there, a region home to a great many species of wildlife. The project uses Hilux trucks to drive across the prairieland, which becomes inundated with water during the rainy season. Neiva Guedes, the biologist who started the project as a student, offered to show our team some actual nesting boxes. We went deeper into the land, off the roads that take safari tours around and onto roads with barely any tire ruts. The Hiluxes splashed through wet patches on the roads, spraying mud as they went. According to Guedes, the project has been giving feedback since the 1990s on how the Hilux runs in this exceptional environment. We were headed back to our hotel after checking on three nesting boxes when our LC 200 got stuck in front of a gate erected to keep animals from escaping. The truck that was in front of us slowed down before going over the gate. With too little distance between our vehicles, we were forced to stop in some mud and ended up getting stuck in it. The LC 200 is a heavy vehicle. We first tried to pull it out of the mud using the Hilux’s winch, but the cable immediately snapped in two. The TDB members on our team and the local safari tour guides with us all got down in the mud to try and free us. A local guide had the idea of tying the LC 200 to two Hiluxes with rope and having them pull it out, but even that didn’t work. In the end, we managed to free the LC 200 by shoveling the mud and getting a tractor to pull us. Sasaki from the Production Engineering Development Division, who had been driving, chastised himself for his lack of driving experience, but also looked at getting stuck in a positive light, calling what was basically his first time off-road driving “a very good experience.” South America Drive Project to experience firsts. Team leader Matsuo, from the Vehicle Technology Development Division, talks about the intent behind having people with different levels of experience on the drive. “For some people, it’s their first time driving in a caravan, and for others it’s their first time driving on dirt. If he had maintained more distance in front of the LC 200 and kept driving, he might not have gotten stuck. But getting stuck isn’t a problem at all. On the contrary, it’s an experience that we should welcome. That’s why we have people on our team with more experience—to lend their support at these times.” We fell behind our day’s schedule getting the LC 200 out of the mud and had to drive on dirt after the sun had set. Clouds of dust billowed up around us, and we could barely see the road surface in the dark with no streetlights. Even Matsuo and the other experienced team members had to concentrate on driving in these conditions. Speaking of experience levels, Hattori from Legal Affairs may have less experience than the others, but he still showed initiative and took on this project. Even when the LC 200 got stuck, he got down in the mud and appreciated being able to have this car experience. “I don’t normally come into contact with cars in my work, so I could easily lose sight of what kind of company I work for. I’m an employee of Toyota, and the essence of our work is to ‘make better cars and deliver them to customers.’ I’m participating in the Drive Project to reaffirm this essence of my work and not lose sight of it.” Meeting customers face to face. The paved roads got even worse when we left Mato Grosso State and entered Paraná State. There were giant potholes that jostled us around in ways people in Japan couldn’t imagine. A RAV4 nonconforming in the Brazilian market bounced riders around harshly, while an entry-level Etios Hatchback got very positive feedback from the team members riding in it. It really does take genchi-genbutsu—going and seeing for yourself. Cars that have been designed to fit the land are essential. Benacchio, the TDB leader who is heading the Drive Project, hears the same from customers, who assert the importance of cars being made for the land when they talk to him while getting gas. “No matter which gas station it is, I have the opportunity to talk directly with lots of customers. I hear many good things at the gas stations, and get some complaints too. Customers always bring up the dust problem. I’m embarrassed that we haven’t been able to satisfy customers on this. We absolutely have to make cars that fit the country.” And then we reached our goal of Paraguay. Argentina is located on the other side of Iguazu Falls. The caravan went forward, braving the fierce wind that Team 3 was experiencing on their drive on the other side. The journey in Brazil, spanning almost a month, was finished, and the team crossed the border into Paraguay. There was an obvious difference in the cars on the road once we crossed the border over the land route. Except for the Hilux, we didn’t find many Toyotas on the road in Brazil, but there were a lot more Toyotas in the used-car paradise of Paraguay. The TMC members became much more animated upon seeing this. Driving around the border town of Ciudad del Este together with a driver from Toyotoshi, the distributor in Paraguay, we encountered dirt roads similar to those in Sinop, and cobblestone streets similar to those in Teresina, both in Brazil. While similar, Paraguay’s farm roads are narrower with worn ruts, making steering a challenge. And although the cobblestone was relatively well maintained, because of this people also drove on it at high speeds. The cobblestone continued for a long time as well. We were warmly welcomed the next day at Toyotoshi in the capital city of Asunción. The team members hugged each other and traded compliments on their hard work as they again affirmed that they were the world representatives of Toyota. Then the Drive Project members returned to their own countries, taking with them the demanding topics and new feelings of friendship gained from driving the roads of South America together over about a month.

Hattori from Legal Affairs joined the team in Ubatuba. He couldn’t help but ask Luiz from TDB, who was riding in the same car, if they were really driving on a highway. There were people waiting in the center median to cross the road and stray dogs walking along the shoulder. While technically a highway, the road had been built following the natural shape of the land and had almost no flat sections. The team members adapted their senses to Brazil little by little on the 400-km drive to São Pedro, braking sharply before speed cameras, following trucks that slow to a crawl on uphill slopes, and driving on straight roads that traverse hills and extend out to the horizon. The project team drove across Brazil in a caravan—an experience Japanese people would normally never get to have. Counting themselves lucky to get special permission for the project in this Olympic year, they gradually became acclimated to the highways of Brazil.

Driving on roads that defy imagination in a car he helped design.

Yamamoto, from the Chassis Design Division, was involved in designing the Etios Hatchback, a leading model in Brazil. He’d been to São Paulo once before, but it was his first time driving there. He looked excited as he got in the car that he had helped design to drive from São Pedro to São José do Rio Preto. He drove away from the coast, heading toward Brazil’s border with Paraguay. It rained from the morning, and the red dust of the dirt road turned to mud. It was a Prius that got stuck in it. Just after changing drivers, a TDB７ member not used to the Prius’ low body swerved to avoid an oncoming car and got stuck in the mud. A Hilux wasted no time in pulling it out with its cable. The road is a lifeline, and the team was reminded that passenger vehicles need to drive on it. The team had been worried that the Etios Hatchback wouldn’t have enough power, but it had no problem climbing the hills and driving through mud while carrying four adult men. Even though they were told that the road conditions were not a problem, they still defied the Japanese imagination. Japanese people would never think to drive a passenger car on a muddy dirt road. If there’s a pothole on a paved street, Japanese people drive around it, but some Brazilians drive right over it. Can the suspension withstand this repeated stress? This is why Yamamoto says he’s in Brazil—to experience ways that people use their cars that go above and beyond what he imagines when he’s designing.

A long drive punctuated by avoiding potholes.

It was a long drive of more than 600 km to Campo Grande, which means “great field.” The roads changed once the team left São Paulo state and entered Mato Grosso state, presumably due to state finances. There were definitely more potholes, and what had been a straight road extending forever and a boring drive was now a road that forced drivers to stay on alert. The team arrived at Campo Grande an hour later than scheduled, and the sun was setting when they reached the city, which suddenly rose up from the road after a ranch by the name of Fazende. At the debriefing, the team members gave their impressions of the cars and trucks. Slight vibration coming from the Corolla’s steering wheel was an issue, as was road noise in the Etios, although the Etios was very well balanced. Driving for long periods sharpens the senses and allows the body to store up these perceptions. Daniel, a TDB member who was on his last day of the project, expressed his gratitude for the opportunity the project gave him to experience the true Toyota Way of genchi genbutsu firsthand. He also encouraged team members to keep in touch and intended use the friendships he had made on the journey to make future cars. The TDB members take a lot of pride in Toyota.

Everyday scenes feel special.

Soon after leaving Campo Grande, the team hit dirt roads again. Umetsu from the Customer Quality Department, who had hardly ever driven on lengthy dirt roads, was surprised at the loss of visibility caused by the dry dust. He quickly adjusted his distance from the car in front of him and started driving slow and steady, muttering, “I can’t see anything in front of me.” He continued, “If you showed people in Japan a photo of this road, they’d assume it was somewhere special. But all this dust flying up in the air is really just from driving down one dirt road. And this road is a lifeline so to speak. To experience this firsthand is the reason I’m participating in the project.” A bus appeared from out of the dust just after he said this. Hardly any houses were visible, but people around here must take this bus to commute to work and school. Nagayama from TDB, who was riding in the same RAV4, was familiar with the dirt roads around São Paulo but hadn’t driven almost anywhere else in Brazil. The Drive Project also gives TDB members a valuable chance to get to know their own country better. After getting back on the highway, the team reached Pantanal, a protected wetland area. They spotted a caiman about 50 cm long lurking in a pond near their hotel.

Something we heard from a dealer in the seaside resort city of Fortaleza was that the most often replaced part on Hiluxes driven by the police was the battery. Even when they park the truck by the beach and go on foot patrols, they don’t stop the engine. Because they leave the air conditioner on for long periods of time while the truck is stopped, they say the battery can’t get charged up again. This town shows us another unique way our vehicles are used. A team of technicians assembles in front of worn-out police vehicles that operate in the field 24 hours a day. Meanwhile, Miyazaki from the Rental Lease Business Division continues interviewing a dealer behind them. In Japan, events at department stores and the like are typically designed to get people to visit a dealer, but in Brazil, people sign contracts at these events and the dealer might easily run out of inventory. This one behavior of buying a car gives another peek into the nature of the people. Miyazaki comments, “My job is to take the　‘goods’ that our engineers and technicians make and turn them into explainable ‘products.’ My work is connecting the people who make the goods with the people who sell the products, but they share the same goal of delivering ever-better cars to customers.” Miyazaki makes a point of communicating not just with dealers but also with the members of the project team, looking for clues from the differences between Brazil and Japan as to how to better deliver products. Departing Fortaleza on our first South American leg of the project over 600 km, we encounter demonstrators who have set tires on fire and blocked a street as well as a wildfire on the shoulder of the road. The roadsides are full of people even though we’re on a highway, but the team members are no longer fazed by the environment that is so different from Japan. Even on the first long drive, the team is more focused on car performance than on the outside environment. Each time when they stop to change drivers, they share their thoughts on things like the importance of seat performance and the inefficiency of ethanol fuel, which is standard in Brazil. At the destination of Teresina, the temperature doesn’t fall below 30°C even after dark.

Rough streets show a curious phenomenon.

One reason our Brazilian team members wanted to show us scorching hot Teresina was to drive on streets made up of a hodgepodge of stones of various sizes that could barely be called cobblestone. Sekiya from the Talent Training Division drives a new Prius on a road so bumpy that it seems as if someone has actually dug holes in it. He feels good about the suspension, which lives up to its reputation of having improved quite a bit. “Even when it’s bumpy, it doesn’t jolt you,” he says, praising the suspension’s rigidity while complaining that it’s difficult to brake at low speed. Even though braking is no problem on paved roads at low speed, it bothers him somehow that subtle brake-work is needed on rough stone streets. The reason why isn’t immediately clear, but more linearity is needed. Sekiya seems pleased as he remarks on how curious it is. There must be room for innovation when a reason is not understood. We fly over to Rio de Janeiro, meet up again with the Land Cruiser 200, and journey to the mountainous city of Campos do Jordão. Whether driving on the highway, on winding mountain roads, or on rough off-road mountain trails, the “king of 4WD” offers its signature stability. Kato from the Vehicle Technology Development Division drives the LC200 while comparing it to his own car, an old Land Cruiser 70. Kato handles conformance testing for control systems like ABS and knows quite well that the level of required performance varies from person to person. The Land Cruiser 70 has almost no new features, and then there’s the LC200. He says that because the Land Cruiser has intentionally kept its core components the same while finding innovative ways to evolve, he feels a responsibility to give people what they want. “Even if we can’t deliver custom-built cars, I think we at least have to make cars that fit the country. I was reminded of this while watching how Brazilians use the emergency brake when they drive,” he adds. To know what features people need in Brazil, we must drive on all its varied streets. When we were off-road driving before going over the mountain to Campos do Jordão, we crossed paths several times with ranchers on horseback. They must need to ride horses to travel off the roads to their grazing lands. Or, maybe horses are easier to handle on the steep slopes and sharp curves so precarious they’re almost inconceivable in Japan. The LC200 certainly has no problem off-road driving. What features are needed on roads where horses are the mode of transportation? Perhaps Kato has found a new topic to ponder.

Etch Brazil in our minds to recall it for development.

Sato, from the Engine Control System Development Department characterizes his two weeks of driving in Brazil like this. “Actually driving in an unknown environment and just hearing about it as information to absorb carry two different weights. I’ll remember Brazil’s landscape when I’m developing systems.” It may look chaotic, but if you nudge your car out into the street someone will let you in. He says he got a feel for Brazilians’ admirable traits while driving around the country. He’s involved in developing idling stop technology, whose introduction is legally mandated in 2019. What results will he produce when he returns to the workplace where he can directly utilize this experience? What each person takes back from the drive project is different, but as Miyazaki mentioned in his conversation with the dealer, the goal is the same: delivering ever-better cars to people around the world. With that thought in mind, the four team members participating in the first half of the project bid farewell to Brazil.

The city of São Paulo is filled with steep slopes and cobblestone streets. There aren’t so many Toyotas on São Paulo’s streets. Sasaki, from the Production Engineering Development Division, sighs and says, “It feels so lonely seeing this.” So why are there so few Toyotas? Is one reason all those steep slopes? After the kick-off event, the 5C 2016 Latin America Driving Project started driving in portions of the varied environments that Toyota Brazil uses as its standard test course. After driving 30 minutes on a highway whose road conditions were not much different from those in Japan, we’re surrounded by jungle. We can see how the unending straight road cuts right through the jungle, and when we enter a village it turns into off-road driving conditions. Our local driver, Odaiyu [オダイユ], tells us, “What you need here is not a Hilux. You need a car that’s small, inexpensive, and can drive on these roads.” There certainly were a lot of compact cars on São Paulo’s streets. According to Odaiyu, he’s not sure if the Etios could get up this off-road slope when the rainy season comes and it turns into a muddy quagmire. Oizumi, who is riding with him from the CV Vehicle Testing Department, nods in agreement. After the off-road conditions comes a steep cobblestone slope. The cobblestones on the downhill side have been filled in with asphalt, with big potholes where the asphalt has broken down. There’s a drop-off where the cobblestones end, and the bottom of our Prius’ body scrapes the street. The Prius’ Eco mode isn’t enough to get up the 18% grade. Little by little, we’re starting to get a better feel for what kinds of cars are needed in this city. The evening rush hour was a traffic jam to end all traffic jams. Motorcycles fly out from both sides. They dart between lanes in quick and sudden movements. Horns blare. Visibility narrows as the sun sets, and Oizumi, imagining the life of São Paulo’s citizens, comments, “You really have to be alert. But they consider this normal.” In other words, this is the customers’ point of view. The day was our first step in getting to know Brazil. Red plantations and intense clouds of powder-fine dust. Bennacchio [ベナッキオ], our local team leader, kept saying that he wanted to show us the roads, off-roads in Brazil. So he planned out an efficient course to do just that. After all, we only had one month. We cut through the Amazon, taking a plane to Sinop in central Brazil, a flat land with plantations as far as the eye can see. We understand why Bennacchio took us here after getting off the highway. The dust was intense. Clouds of fine red particles reduce our visibility to nearly zero. Fujishima, who works in the Quality Assurance Department at Tahara Plant, enjoyed the “handicap.” He hardly ever has the chance to drive in all this dirt in his daily work. “I’m not that good a driver even though I’m in charge of suspension,” he says self-depreciatingly. Still, he takes the SW4 Hilux Fortuner steering wheel as if to check the vehicle’s performance.

“I’m in charge of testing at the plant. My job isn’t directly related to car performance. So when people ask me what I’m going to bring back from the driving project, I don’t have an answer right away. But that’s exactly why I want to listen to people from various angles, build up my knowledge and experience, and think about what it means for me to be here.”

Fujishima asks the Brazilian driver with him all kinds of questions. He gets a feel for the land at the plantations and searches for clues to solve problems. The biggest problem faced in this place is the fine dust particles getting inside cars. The people who work on plantations don’t see the Hilux as their daily wheels, but as a tool to get their work done. At a dealer meeting, we hear that people trade in their Hilux after two years and more than 150,000 kilometers driven. Miyazaki, from the Rental Lease Business Division, asks questions typical of someone who works in sales. “So how much do they get when they trade in their old Hilux?” It turns out that driving up to 150,000 kilometers only lowers the value by 23%. Then we learn that because of this, sometimes people get an old Hilux in lieu of their wages. Because the vehicle has rock-solid credibility, it’s also held to high standards. A film of dust so fine that people in Japan wouldn’t believe it covers the interior of our Hilux after a day of driving around 150 kilometers.