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
21st-century environmental changes.
Racing to green mobility
The President of Honda R&D, Masaaki Kato, hopes to harness the
company's "racing spirit" to research and develop
innovative methods to reduce the CO2 emissions of its
products.
Charging ahead
Nissan's Senior Vice President, Minoru Shinohara, explains the
battery technology that will allow feasible electric cars, while
not forgetting to mention the GT-R supercar.
Market Genesis
Hyundai-Kia R&D Center Chief Hyun-Soon Lee has added the top
market-research job at the company as it tries to quickly add more
value to its products with new technologies and features.
China goes shiftless
Suppliers hope to capitalize on the future gold mine for automatic
transmissions by working with OEMs on high-tech but low-cost
solutions.
Downsizing under control
Engine control and precision are crucial as engine designers use an
array of new ideas to get more power from smaller, more efficient
engines.
Who is really in control?
As cars become more complex, driver-control systems
proliferate--but keeping their operation simple and reducing
workload is a growing fight.
Advanced metals gaining momentum
Materials once considered exotic are being specified for
higher-volume automotive applications in a bid to trim mass for
improved fuel economy and performance.
Engineering the EcoBoost
Fast tracking a new gasoline turbocharged direct-injection engine
meant Ford engineering teams had to reduce development times while
capitalizing on improvements in simulation and collaboration
tools.