{"id":2040,"date":"2022-04-22T10:58:29","date_gmt":"2022-04-22T01:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asahi-kasei-mobility.com\/en\/interview\/emotion-focused-automotive-design\/"},"modified":"2024-08-29T15:51:42","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T06:51:42","slug":"creating-for-tomorrow_1","status":"publish","type":"interview","link":"https:\/\/asahi-kasei-mobility.com\/en\/interview\/creating-for-tomorrow_1\/","title":{"rendered":"Next Generation Concept Car\u3010AKXY2\u3011"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why does Asahi Kasei want to create a futuristic car? <\/span>
\n\u301cChallenge aimed at a concept car via the generational series of \u201cAKXY\u201d, \u201cAKXY POD\u201d & \u201cAKXY2\u201d\u301c<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy don\u2019t we create an entire vehicle?\u201d\u2026 Such an unthinkable challenge was born several years ago within Asahi Kasei. In 2017, we made an announcement on the first generation of \u201cAKXY.\u201d In 2019, the second generation of AKXY, the \u201cAKXY POD,\u201d came out. Finally, in May 2022, the third generation, \u201cAKXY2,\u201d will make its debut. It is said today that the automotive industry is in the midst of a once-every-100 years revolution. Why do we want to build a concept car if Asahi Kasei is not an automaker? What messages could be incorporated in such an ambitious plan? We will ask Kazumoto Takagi, Masahiro Morizumi and Takafumi Honjo at Asahi Kasei Business Strategy & Marketing Dept. (former name: Automotive Marketing Dept.) about how this concept car project came out, its background history as well as each one of their thoughts poured into this project.<\/p>\n

Click here to contact us<\/a> about Asahi Kasei\u2019s products and usage examples.<\/p>\n

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\u25b2From left: Masahiro Morizumi, Kazumoto Takagi, and Takafumi Honjo from Business Strategy & Marketing Dept..<\/p><\/div>\n

A materials company that wants to create an entire car from scratch based on its own ideas and learn from it<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Takagi: \u201cIn 2016, a management policy that aimed to reinforce our automotive businesses was established as the core Mid-term Management Plan for the Asahi Kasei Group. Within this new policy, the primary goals were to expand our automotive businesses, reinforce our connection with customers and improve our brand recognition. In order to promote and support our automotive businesses, the Automotive Marketing Dept. was established on April 1 and the team was formed by existing employees from various departments within Asahi Kasei.<\/p>\n

Although Asahi Kasei is already manufacturing and supplying numerous products for automotive materials, our company name is not well-known in the industry. In addition, we did not initially have much knowledge about vehicles as a non-automaker. That\u2019s when we laid out the following three objectives on this project: 1. Make Asahi Kasei\u2019s vehicle-related businesses better known around the world, 2. Improve our own knowledge about vehicles, 3. Unite all of us as one team and support our automotive businesses. As a result, we were determined to create our own signature concept car.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u25b2Takagi and Morizumi came to the Automotive Marketing Dept. from electronics sector. Both of them love creating things. Takagi is a typical car enthusiast. He says that this concept car project is becoming an excellent experience as well.<\/p><\/div>\n

Drivable next-generation showcase: the 1st generation of “AKXY” in 2017<\/h2>\n

Takagi: \u201cIn order to have intensive discussions about our concept car and how to build it, all members of our Marketing Dept. got together for a training camp in June of that year. Prior to this, we looked for a company who would be interested in collaborating with us. By summer, we discovered a startup called GLM, an EV specialist based in Kyoto. We researched so many companies who were good at creating concept cars. The reason why we chose GLM is because the company had the best futuristic concept \u2013 one that matched our own future vision \u2013 and their idea had a huge impact on us. Today, it is commonplace for everybody to talk about EVs or environmentally friendly vehicles. At that time, however, people had just started talking about the \u2018upcoming automotive revolution.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Morizumi: \u201cOur design concept was to incorporate an SUV-like taste that was becoming very popular at that time with the combination of curves and straight-lines, aiming to materialize several keywords such as \u201cenvironment\u201d and \u201charmony.\u201d Then, we decided to implement Asahi Kasei\u2019s engineering materials that were available for automotive use in as many applications as possible. As a result, we ended up with a \u201cDrivable showcase\u201d that incorporated 37 Asahi Kasei along with various demos by using selected products.<\/p>\n

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\u25b2Creating a concept car requires a good grasp of multiple businesses and products under the Asahi Kasei brand. According to Morizumi, what\u2019s important is to go beyond existing barriers, meet up with new people, and learn from them, which expands your own world.<\/p><\/div>\n

The brand name \u201cAKXY\u201d (pronounced \u201caxy\u201d<\/em>) represents Asahi Kasei with \u201cAK\u201d and how it crosses into society with \u201cX.\u201d The \u201cY\u201d stands for \u201cYou,\u201d meaning our customers such as automakers and suppliers. We created this concept car in order to let tradeshow visitors get inside for a real experience. The reason why we chose this SUV-like design is because it is easier for most people to get in and out of the car compared to a sports car or sedan. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\t\t