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Toyota Taps Maker Movement for Input on Forthcoming Concept Car

By Rain Noe - September 11, 2014

in Cars

Next weekend Toyota will unveil a concept car not at an auto show, but at the World Maker Faire in New York City. The chosen venue is purposeful: To create their Urban Utility (U2) concept vehicle, Toyota's CALTY design arm conducted interviews with previous Maker Faire participants. The resultant design has yielded a car described as "a flexible, functional gadget that owners can customize according to individual, on-the-go needs."

While text descriptions of the concept are light, the renderings tell the tale. Makers apparently expressed a strong desire to haul a variety of goods, as a lot of attention has been given to how onboard storage is to be managed via a "Multipurpose Utility Bar" and "Retractable Latching System:"

CALTY reckons they can get the seats to fold flatter with this Aeron-like design:

Up front, the dashboard features a "Retractable Utility Bar" that the passenger-side occupant can use to hang different accessories off of:

There's also this rendering of...something, that frankly, I can't make heads or tails of:

Here's the animation showing the armadillo-like roof and flip-up side windows that you don't see in the renderings:

As much as the U2 is a fun design exercise for CALTY, it also appears to be validation of the Maker Movement as a viable economic force. "As more products are developed expressly to appeal to Makers," said Sherry Huss, VP and co-founder of Maker Faire, "and their deep appreciation of design esthetic combined with open architecture and practical utility, we expect to see more trusted brands like Toyota take an unconventional approach to not only product development but their marketing and launch strategies.

"Leveraging the growing Maker movement and Makers' broad sphere of influence can impact the success of consumer brands and future products."

The sheets come off of the U2 on September 20, and it appears there will be an actual full-sized mock-up on display.

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Adam

10 years ago

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They seem to have tried to reinvent cargo management. Why not just put L-track in the vehicle and leverage all the time and money put in to the design, testing and evolution of that system?
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Rohit

10 years ago

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i like this innovation very much, but is it costly?
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drfunk

10 years ago

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You know, the Honda crz already provides this sort of functionality. I love that it wasn't branded as such; a modern, urban commuter with sporty aspects. Toyota is slow to react to the quickly developing car market. Reintroducing those aspects that have already been proven by other manufacturers.

I feel that the Nissan Revival Plan had its place like steel worker unions once had theirs.. now it would seem that the top-heavy decision making of the Nissan execs are hindering their progress.
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