Shigeyuki Hori is the principal designer of Toyota's acclaimed Hybrid Synergy Drive

Hybrid Synergy Drive

Hybrid Synergy Drive is a set of hybrid car technologies developed by Toyota and used in the company's Auris, Prius, Highlander Hybrid, Camry Hybrid, Estima, Alphard, Lexus CT, Lexus RX 400h/RX 450h, Lexus GS 450h, Lexus LS 600h/LS 600hL, and Lexus HS 250h automobiles. Toyota also licenses its HSD...

 hybrid motor system which is in use by several vehicles including the Prius and Lexus RX Hybrid

Lexus RX

The Lexus RX is a crossover sport utility vehicle sold since 1998 by Lexus, the luxury division of the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. Three generations of the Lexus RX have been produced to date, the first being compact in size, and the latter two classified as mid-size...

. 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

University of Tokyo

, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...

, 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.