JAPAN: Tokyo Motor Show kicks off with wacky designs

Record ID: 462673

  • Title: JAPAN: Tokyo Motor Show kicks off with wacky designs
  • Date: 29th October 2007
  • Summary: SUZUKI MOTOR CO.'S BOOTH SUZUKI MOTOR CO.'S ONE-SEATER MOBILE TOOL "PIXY" COMING OUT OF WHITE BOXY "SUZUKI SHARING COACH (SSC)
  • Embargoed: 13th November 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVA96RDVQ6IT5EX7VSOJD1RJU4U8
  • Story Text: Funky ideas and wacky car designs dominate this year's Tokyo Motor Show.
    Japanese carmakers showcased the latest batch of futuristic and eco-friendly cars at the Tokyo Motor Show on Wednesday (October 24) as they try to lure consumers back to the sputtering home market, with showpieces ranging from cute, bubbly concepts to pure, mean muscle machines.
    Market leader Toyota Motor Corp and other Japanese auto giants strutted out cars launching in the market soon and showed off futuristic ideas for automobiles such as talking robots to keep drivers entertained and alert.
    More so than other international auto shows, Japanese carmakers have used the one in Tokyo to tell audiences what safety and technological features they envisage down the road, while trying to cement their image as environmental-friendly front-runners.
    The biennial event, held in Chiba, just outside Tokyo, will open to the public on Saturday (October 27).
    Toyota's stance is a hodgepodge of concepts, from the i-REAL one-seater that can be driven down the sidewalk like a wheelchair or on roads at high speed, to the green flex-fuel plug-in hybrid car.
    Nissan Motor Co showcased a sequel to its egg-shaped, revolving-cabin PIVO electric car, this time with a robotic agent that reads facial expressions. In a chirpy, friendly voice, the dome-shaped robot head perched in the cockpit warns drivers if they appear to be dozing off, or tries to lighten the mood when they seem upset.
    Nissan also unveiled the prototype of a new-generation commercial and recreational van, "NV-200".
    "We designed this car so that people of various occupations, such as those running flower shops or food stands, would all find it useful and enjoyable," said Ryoichi Kuraoka, Nissan's Product Chief Designer.
    In a similar vein, Toyota's RiN concept is designed to calm the mind, evoking nature with its grass-like carpeting, green-tinted windows and posture-correcting seats. Engineers said it was one answer to President Katsuaki Watanabe's dream of creating a car that makes drivers healthy.
    For more tangible safety advances, Honda Motor Co came up with the Puyo, a seamless, gel-coated four-wheeled bubble that leaves pedestrians unharmed in a light collision.
    "The surface of this vehicle is made of soft silicone so it won't be damaged even if it's scratched. The feel of the material makes people want to touch it," said Motoaki Minowa, Creative Chief Designer for Honda Motor Co.
    Wacky concepts attracted a broader audience, but the show offers eye candy for true motorheads.
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