It is ironic. The environment surrounding the cradle of Toyota's GR lineup, the GR factory, is unexpected.
GR, which started from motorsports Gazoo Racing (Gazoo Racing), is Toyota Motor's high-performance brand, but it carries a meaning beyond that. That's because Toyota's driving philosophy is rooted in GR.
Because of its symbolism, one might think the production plant would be a new facility boasting the latest equipment. But it was not. Rather, the production line for cutting-edge high-performance vehicles was operating in Toyota's oldest factory.
To reporters from Korea who visited the 2025 Japan Mobility Show, Toyota Motor unveiled the "GR factory," which was a model of ongojishin where tradition and cutting-edge coexist.
The "GR factory" is not a completely independent plant. It is established as a GR-dedicated assembly plant within the Motomachi plant, which launched as Toyota's first passenger car–only factory. Motomachi plant, built in 1959 in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, is the headquarters of Toyota Motor's passenger car lineup.
Why was the "GR factory" located in such a place?
Kawakita Atsushi, project general manager of the GR management division, who greeted the Korean press corps, said, "Motomachi plant is the land where Toyota was founded and the oldest factory. GR must maintain high precision and produce cars with excellent functional performance, and we judged that it is appropriate to establish a factory that produces such cars on the land of the founding."
There was also a practical reason in the early days of the GR brand when production volumes were not large. Suzuki Seiji, project general manager of the GR management division, said, "Because GR are such high-performance vehicles, production volume did not matter much at the beginning. But as customers around the world are gradually buying them, I think we can increase capacity in the future."
Producing cutting-edge high-performance vehicles on the land of the founder steeped in tradition is consistent with the ongojishin spirit of 'learning the old to discover new truths.'
The factory is lined with advanced robotic equipment. Yet at the same time, you can also see technicians holding hammers tapping the robot-welded bodies as they inspect them.
Suzuki Seiji, project general manager, said, "Robots perform high-precision spot welding, so reliability is so high that almost no defects are found. Even so, the reason people tap with hammers during inspection is to prepare for unforeseen cases," adding, "The items people inspect are not so much to find spot-welding defects but, given the nature of the GR brand, designs change frequently, so the main purpose is to check whether any contact points were missed."
The scene of technical artisans inspecting the results of cutting-edge robots' work could reasonably be interpreted as a symbol of ongojishin.
A special process exclusively for high-performance GR was also confirmed at the "GR factory." It is the process called "body precision inspection."
Although vehicle components require high precision, the reality is that not all parts can be guaranteed to be 100% identical. The same goes for the points where precision parts are assembled. Holes are precisely made at assembly points, but slight differences can occur there as well.
The "body precision inspection" process at the GR factory measures even these minute differences precisely and finds the most suitable parts for the assembly locations.
Looking at the process,
- The positions of holes on the lower body are precisely measured to decimal (mm) units.
- This data is integrated into an analysis system that matches the fine tolerances of each part.
- The analysis system finds the optimal combination among about 10,000 combinations and automatically selects the corresponding part.
GR vehicles assembled through this process maintain the highest level of precision in part joining.
It is also unusual that the GR factory does not use a conveyor belt.
Instead, AGVs (automated guided vehicles) move the bodies in the GR factory. When necessary, work is performed with the body stationary for about nine minutes. This method is to maximize assembly precision by combining parts without shaking. It is a process optimized for low-volume, high-precision production typical of sports cars. It also offers flexibility for equipment changes, making it easy to introduce new processes.
The process by which the upper and lower bodies are joined is also the opposite of a typical factory.
The typical process in a car assembly plant uses a conveyor belt that moves the lower body to rise toward the fixed upper body for joining.
But at the GR factory, the lower parts are set in the exact position first, and the body is lowered from above to join them. This is also to maintain precision. It minimizes work movement of the upper and lower bodies and increases assembly precision under conditions that include gravity.
All of these high-difficulty tasks are performed by skilled technicians. So do they receive relatively special treatment?
Kawakita Atsushi, project general manager's answer was unexpected.
"There is no special treatment at all. Instead, the workers at this plant are all takumi (artisan) members. They work with the pride of being artisans specially selected from various plants," he said.
Kawakita Atsushi, general manager, also mentioned the motorsports alliance with Hyundai Motor that was formed in October last year.
"We are very grateful that Hyundai Motor is doing rally activities with us. Although motorsports started in Europe, we appreciate that Toyota Motor of Japan and Hyundai Motor of Korea are stepping in step to try to make better cars together," he said.
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