Considering Sienna: 53,000 miles in the making

Automotive Design & Production, March, 2003 by Gary S. Vasilash

Toyota engineers a new minivan, one specifically for the North American roads. Interestingly, there was a whole lot of time--and a whole lot of miles--spent individually pondering just what it is that one really needs in a minivan--like great seats.

An oft-cited phrase used to describe the development of vehicles nowadays is along the lines of "We designed it from the inside out." The underlying acknowledgement of that statement is that people spend a considerable amount of time sitting in vehicles (e.g., long commutes that are exacerbated by gridlock and ever-lengthening rush hours; the recent propensity to drive somewhere rather than to fly). So in some significant ways, the inside is more important than the outside.

Although that particular phrase was not used during an explication of the development of the 2004 Toyota Sienna minivan, it is probably more authentically germane to that vehicle than to many others. John M. Jula, executive engineer/program manager, Development Planning & Operations, Toyota Technical Center U.S.A. (TTC; Ann Arbor, MI), notes that prior to being assigned to the Sienna program--for which he manages TTC's engineering involvement (concept through launch), which includes managing internal engineering, coordinating supplier interfaces, and managing the overall project--he was general manager of something called "Engineering Design IV." That meant that Jula concentrated on interiors. Instrument panels. Consoles. Restraints. And seats. Especially seats. Jula recalls that he was always developing clever folding seating mechanisms for various Toyota vehicles. And perhaps as one of those cases of "be careful of what you wish for," Jula found himself pondering and being responsible for the 2004 Sienna se ating. Indeed, one of the key differentiators of the Sienna is its seats.

* Sienna seats were undoubtedly a concern of Yuji Yokoya, the Sienna chief engineer. He took the Toyota tenant of genchi-genbutsu to a whole new extreme. The tenant means "go, see and confirm." The Sienna is a North American product. There is no Japanese equivalent. (when the Previa minivan, 1991-97, gave way to the first-generation Sienna, the Japanese and North American minivan programs diverged.) Yokoya decided that to really go, see and confirm what's required for a minivan, he'd drive in every state in the U.S., every province in Canada, and every estado in Mexico. All in minivans. He covered some 53,000 miles in his trek in both Siennas and its competitors.

"My vision for Sienna was not the result of focus groups," he observes. "It came from investing time on the road... behind the wheel."

(That line ought to be kept in mind by any and all people who are involved in vehicle development programs--at least if they're interested in achieving breakthroughs. Otherwise, stick with the focus groups.)

John Jula spent time sitting in the passenger seat to Yokoya during this journey. Jula is a big man, a robust man. Yokoya is comparatively diminutive. Clearly, there would be a concern vis-avis the seats after all of the hours on the road.

As the minivan as a class of vehicles is essentially one designed for families, the need to have an economical product (or at least one with a competitive price point) is essential. With the increased number of vehicles in the category, and with a well-regarded veteran like the Chrysler Town 6 Country and the highly demanded current-generation Honda Odyssey in the class, what Toyota would do to create a new Sienna was of some concern within the company. Jula says that during the development process for what they intended to be "the benchmark American minivan," affordability presented the primary challenge.

Although "affordability" is sometimes code for "decontenting" (or at least the rationale for doing that), so far as they were concerned, that couldn't be the case if they were, in fact, to create what could be considered to be a new standard in the category. Jula explains that he and his colleagues were working toward "setting a new standard in product quality, content and performance." Yet there was that issue of cost: You can more readily achieve those things by simply adding expense, but that was not to be. So they concluded that they would need to find "new engineering efficiencies." They set about on a program that, as he puts it, meant "rethinking and refining the entire development and manufacturing process." The goal was to reduce costs without sacrificing the quality, content and performance.

And an important aspect was the seats. "Nowhere were we more indulgent with our budget than in the seat design," Jula says. (Before joining TTC in 1996, Jula was director of Engineering-Interiors at Johnson Controls, where he worked on programs including the interior development for the Mercedes SUV.) Amplifying that, he remarks, "The Sienna seat-set was one of a handful of critical features where we said, 'Damn the cost, let's make it the best we can--and find a way to offset the extravagance along the way.'"