Toyota's $1.7 Bn Test Mule Development Center Opens

Toyota opens its technology center as the “development cradle” for future vehicles in Japan that has taken six years in construction.

The automaker, who invested around $1.74 billion into the construction, says vehicles that the Shimoyama Toyota Technical Center builds will be the test mules of the future to be tested to destruction on “every road in the world.”

It is strategically located in a mountainous area between Toyota City and Okazaki City and is expected to drive vehicle development, principally for new Lexus and Toyota’s sports wing, Gazoo Racing. It is also a place where challenging mountain roads, and test track surfaces which recreate road surfaces characteristic of different parts of the world, will be used to refine "both machines and the people and who make them," says the automaker.

Among the first features to be built during construction are its extensive test track facilities which have already been used for tuning and track-testing new models.

Now fully operational, the Vehicle Development Building echoes the look and feel of the pit garages at the Nürburgring circuit, whose adjacent world-famous old Nordschleife section is used by many global automakers to refine vehicles ahead of series production.

The building’s multi-tasking role includes planning, development, design, prototyping and evaluation. Cutting-edge equipment will be used to promote agile development, integrating digital technology with physical car manufacturing techniques.

Naturally these days, maintaining and managing the natural environment around the center is a major consideration. This includes the preservation of the original trees and greenery that cover approximately 60% of the 650-hectare (1,606-acre) site as well as creating new green areas.

Akio Toyoda, Toyota Motor Corp. chairman, says: “It has been nearly 20 years since conceptualization of this project began. Around 3,000 people, including development members and test drivers from GR and Lexus, will drive, break and improve cars here. The more we drive and break cars, the ever better they become. Although Shimoyama is not a production plant, cars made there will be driven on every road in the world.”