TOKYO — Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada has a closer connection than most to the Prius.
Twenty-five years ago, Uchiyamada was chief engineer of the first generation of the stubby car that stunned the industry in 1997 as the world's first mass-produced gasoline-electric hybrid.
In doing so, he helped Toyota leapfrog into an era of better fuel efficiency and helped pave the way for the full-electric vehicles that are currently wowing the market.