On the Line at Tochigi—Sort Of

As you may know, assembly line workers in Japanese plants often wear uniforms, including hats.

Pictured here are two such individuals so outfitted:

Of course, generally, there isn’t a phalanx of photographers in front of a vehicle—in this case, the first production model of the Infiniti Q50—at the Nissan Tochigi production plant, which is the “mother plant” for the production of Infiniti vehicles.

Arguably, those are the mothers of all uniform-wearing individuals at Tochigi last week, as they are Johan de Nysschen, president of Infiniti Motor Co. (he has his head down here), and Carlos Ghosn, president and CEO of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (he doesn’t).

Ghosn said at the line-off event, “Thanks to the skill and constant focus on performance improvement, Tochigi has a global reputation for producing top quality vehicles. Year after year, Tochigi sets the benchmark for manufacturing quality standards.” Which is undoubtedly why they’re building the Q50 there, especially as it is the first new Infiniti with the revised nomenclature (its predecessor was the G sedan; G is now gone).

Speaking of the car in that production context, Ghosn added, “With the Q50, once again the Tochigi team has showcased their skill and expertise and proven the power of Japanese monozukuri.”

That last word essentially means making things with the highest levels of craftsmanship and continuous improvement.

No doubt that was amped up for those two visitors to the plant.