ANN ARBOR, Mich., Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Even though the 2021
Toyota Sienna has yet to go on sale, the innovative engineering
work for the new minivan conducted at Toyota Motor North America's
Research & Development Center in Michigan is already garnering awards.
Altair Engineering has presented Toyota Motor North America with
its prestigious Enlighten award. The award recognizes
Toyota's work, with the support of supplier partner BASF, in
substantial lightweighting of Sienna's folding third-row seats.
The lightweighting effort was lead by Toyota Senior Principal
Engineer for Body Design, Todd Muck.
Working with BASF, Todd and his team reduced the heavy, 15-piece
steel seat frame to a new one-piece resin seatback. The
industry-first seatback is lighter, easier to assemble, and less
expensive to produce. While all of the improvements are important,
it is the seat's lower weight that provides the most direct benefit
to the customer.
"Reducing the seatback's mass (weight) provides the customer
with several benefits," said Muck. He continued, "Less weight can
improve fuel economy. Or, we can use that saved weight in other
areas, such as adding new features like the built-in
refrigerator."
However, Muck says the most apparent benefit is the reduced
effort it takes for customers to raise folded third-row seats to
their upright position. "Our new design has made lifting the seats
much easier," he said. "With the previous design, it would take
more than 24-kilograms (53 pounds) of force to raise the seat. The
new design requires less than 9-kilograms (19 pounds) of force."
The all-new Sienna was designed and engineered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and is manufactured in
Princeton, Indiana. It goes on
sale later this year.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a
part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is
committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility
through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has
created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to
world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 38
million cars and trucks in North
America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including
our joint venture in Alabama (10
in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over
36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly
1,500 in the U.S.) sold 2.8 million cars and trucks (2.4 million in
the U.S.) in 2019.
Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights
the way it partners with community, civic, academic and
governmental organizations to address our society's most pressing
mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move,
anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit
ToyotaNewsroom.com.
Media Contact:
Brian Watkins
734-219-8015
brian.watkins@toyota.com
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SOURCE Toyota Motor North America