2010 PRIUS THE NDT-SD-LITTLE CAR THAT CAN

摘要

The first-generation Prius went on sale in the U.S. in 2000. The second-gen appeared in October 2003. Now it is time for the third. Ask yourself this: Has any car in recent memory come so far in so short a time? rnAkihiko Otsuka said that all things considered, it is rather unexpected. With a bachelor's in electrical engineering, he rrnjoined Toyota Motor Corp. (TMC) in 1986 in the Noise and Vibration Development Div. There, he had the opportunity to work on rrncars including the Supra, Celica, and Carina. (As you may recall, the Supra and the Celica were once available in the U.S. rrnNo more.) As time passed, he was moved to Europe, where he worked on testing and tuning vehicles for that market. He rrnreturned to Japan in 1998 and worked in the Product Planning department, where he became the assistant chief engineer for rrnthe Prius and Estima Hybrid. In 2007, he was made chief engineer for Prius. Which, as he said, is something that he never rrnexpected.