And there are only two chief inspectors dealing with it
The expensive Toyota Century SUV is produced in small batches, so the company carries out strict quality control at the output. The company spoke about this in its corporate magazine Toyota Times.
If in the classic case dozens of people evaluate the final assembly of cars, then in the case of the Century there are only two. And to do this job, chief inspectors had to go through a rigorous training program.
Inspection of a car released from the assembly line includes 17 stages. It all starts with assessing the color and fit of the body panels: there should be no gaps or unevenness at the joints. Pictured below is Moriaki Higa, one of the two chief inspectors. According to him, the Century SUV has stricter “acceptance” standards than the Lexus. For example, while at Lexus, paint quality testing is usually carried out on a sample of cars, in the case of Century, each car is thoroughly inspected.
If the paint and body are OK, the Century is sent on its own to another inspection station to check the mechanical parts. At the same time, it moves on pure electricity (Century, we remind you, is a rechargeable hybrid). After this, the SUV is sent to a special test track, where it is tested on uneven surfaces to identify suspicious noises or knocks.
All procedures take the chief inspector about 3.5 hours. But given that they produce only 30 cars a month, Toyota can afford to take its time.