Shiro Nakamura
SVP, Chief Creative Officer
"People tend to feel more comfortable moving slowly. It's more relaxing. Not too much tension. There are two kinds of cars in Japan. One is the GT-R - really fast. The other is the Cube, the slowest-looking car in the world. It almost looks stopped when you're driving it."
"A normal car is symmetrical, but the driver isn't in the center. He's at the right- or left-hand side of the car. So why would we need everything to be symmetrical? If you drive on the left, you don't need the left rear window."
"When you look at the rear of a car, unconsciously you can feel an animal. It moves. That's the basic difference between a car and a refrigerator. You've fallen in love with a car, right? You never fell in love with a refrigerator."
"Lower and wider is the formula for creating a nice-looking car. We have here narrower, taller, shorter. It's a new sense of value - creating space in a tiny area. In this, the Cube is rooted in the Japanese tiny island culture."
"This is a very peaceful car. No rush. Having this car for the U.S. people right now is good timing. It is a very difficult time for the U.S. Some people are fed up with big and powerful macho cars. I think we need this kind of car."