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Toyota Design Chief Tokuo Fukuichi Named Lexus President

Since we talked about Toyota’s future design today, you should know that the man behind some of the automaker’s best designs is Tokuo Fukuichi, lead designer for Toyota, Lexus and Scion. And besides that, he is now chief over Lexus International.
Tokuo Fukuichi 1 photo
Photo: Toyota
Toyota Motor Corporation recently released a whole list of management shuffle and the most important one is naming Tokuo Fukuichi president of Lexus International, making him the first designer chief to lead the luxury brand.

Fukuichi-san is expected to take over his new position on April 1st (hope it’s not one of them April’s fools) while his board appointment will take effect around June.

Design is very important now for Toyota, hardly trying to redeem itself from an automaker that only made soulless home appliances on wheels. The company started the new trend with the Lexus LFA, when president Akio Toyoda let the designers’ imagination run wild. Next came the company’s GT 86 sportscar, the 2014 Corolla and another batch of refaced models, now culminating with the gorgeous FT-1 concept that’s supposed to give birth to the next generation Toyota Supra.

A major design breakthrough from Toyota is also expected for next year, when the company will adapt a new product development strategy knows as Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) which is said to debut on the next gen Prius.
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