Green, mean or just wacky: Tokyo Motor Show opens
Thursday, 25 October 2007
CHIBA, Japan, Oct 24 (AFP): Zany concept vehicles, fuel efficient hybrids and muscular supercars vied for attention as the Tokyo Motor Show opened today with Japanese automakers eager to revive moribund domestic sales.
From bubble-shaped vehicles of the future to sleek petrol- guzzling sports cars, makers showed off their latest efforts to push the boundaries of automotive technology.
Rivals showed off their green credentials with an array of environmentally friendly vehicles crammed into a convention centre near the capital, as record high oil prices prompt unprecedented interest in fuel-efficient motoring.
But it's not all about saving the planet: Nissan was preparing to take the wraps off its hotly anticipated GT-R supercar, hoping that there is still a market for high- performance muscle machines despite the buzz around hybrids.
And from Mazda comes Taiki, a concept sports car with a striking, wind-swept design.
Toyota and Honda meanwhile tried to soften the image of sports cars as gas guzzlers with concept hybrids running on a mix of petrol and electricity.
"Our mission is to make products that offer excitement," Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe said on the eve of the show.
With prices at the pump soaring and the Japanese car market shrinking, industry watchers said high-performance cars appear to be more about polishing makers' brand image than giving a direct boost to their bottom line.
"Generally my observations of most sporty cars are: they look great and sales start out great but they decay very rapidly," said Christopher Richter, auto analyst at investment bank CLSA.
"You can imagine why makers put sporty cars into their line- ups rather sparingly," he added.
This year's show is seen as particularly crucial for Japanese car makers as they battle falling sales in their home market amid a shrinking population and signs the younger generation is losing its lust for cars.
From bubble-shaped vehicles of the future to sleek petrol- guzzling sports cars, makers showed off their latest efforts to push the boundaries of automotive technology.
Rivals showed off their green credentials with an array of environmentally friendly vehicles crammed into a convention centre near the capital, as record high oil prices prompt unprecedented interest in fuel-efficient motoring.
But it's not all about saving the planet: Nissan was preparing to take the wraps off its hotly anticipated GT-R supercar, hoping that there is still a market for high- performance muscle machines despite the buzz around hybrids.
And from Mazda comes Taiki, a concept sports car with a striking, wind-swept design.
Toyota and Honda meanwhile tried to soften the image of sports cars as gas guzzlers with concept hybrids running on a mix of petrol and electricity.
"Our mission is to make products that offer excitement," Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe said on the eve of the show.
With prices at the pump soaring and the Japanese car market shrinking, industry watchers said high-performance cars appear to be more about polishing makers' brand image than giving a direct boost to their bottom line.
"Generally my observations of most sporty cars are: they look great and sales start out great but they decay very rapidly," said Christopher Richter, auto analyst at investment bank CLSA.
"You can imagine why makers put sporty cars into their line- ups rather sparingly," he added.
This year's show is seen as particularly crucial for Japanese car makers as they battle falling sales in their home market amid a shrinking population and signs the younger generation is losing its lust for cars.