In April 2024, there was an unveiling ceremony for the Toyota Technical Center Shimoyama research and development facility to mark the start of full operations.

The facility was built with the cooperation of Toyota City and Okazaki City in Aichi Prefecture. The country road was built in 2019, and the test course was completed in 2021. This year, it became a business base for developing Lexus and GR, and full operations began with the opening of the vehicle development building.

“It’s about driving on roads, breaking, and fixing… doing that over and over is what it is to make a car.”

As Chairman Akio Toyoda gave his thoughts on carmaking, behind him was a smashed GR Yaris that Morizo had flipped and destroyed. There’s a special reason why this was displayed during the unveiling ceremony.

Cars are driven on the test course and return to the garage when they break. The engineers rush down from the second floor, and everyone discusses how to fix it. Having everyone in one place means agile development.

Chairman Toyoda had the following to say.

“This is not a goal. It is a start.” “This is where we can do what we’ve always wanted to but were unable to do, so this is where we begin figuring out how to use this facility.”