Shigeyuki Hori is the principal designer of

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

's acclaimed

Hybrid Synergy Drive Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD), also known as Toyota Hybrid System II, is the brand name of Toyota Motor Corporation for the hybrid car drive train technology used in vehicles with the Toyota and Lexus marques. First introduced on the Toyota Prius, ...

hybrid motor system which is in use by several vehicles including the

Prius The is a car built by Toyota which has a hybrid drivetrain, combining an internal combustion engine with an electric motor. Initially offered as a four-door sedan, it has been produced only as a five-door liftback since 2003. In 2007, th ...

and Lexus RX Hybrid. An executive chief engineer in Toyota Motor Corporation, Dr. Hori served as chief engineer for more vehicles simultaneously than any other person in the company's history, by taking charge of the Prius, Celica, MR2, Caldina, Opa, Avensis, and Scion tC development efforts in the early to mid-2000s.

Career

Shigeyuki Hori spent nine years studying at the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project b ...

, where he earned a PhD in bioengineering. At Toyota Motor Corporation, he developed the Toyota Cost Calculation System, a method of determining the cost of each part that goes into a vehicle, and thus computing the total expense of building each car. Prior to this system, designers had estimated new car costs using prior comparison models. The development of the Toyota Cost Calculation System earned Dr. Hori the nickname "Dr. Cost-Magician" within the company, and he was given further vehicle development positions. In the early 2000s, Dr. Hori was named executive chief engineer of the second generation Toyota Prius. He also took charge of the Celica and MR2 projects, destined for worldwide markets, the Avensis for Europe, the Caldina and Opa for Japan, and the Scion tC for the US. An avid test track driver, Dr. Hori alternated between his design duties and high-speed vehicle drives. At the culmination of the Toyota Prius development project, Dr. Hori and his team had amassed 530 patents for the Hybrid Synergy Drive system and other elements of the Prius design.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hori, Shigeyuki Japanese automotive engineers Toyota people Living people Year of birth missing (living people)