Tokyo Motor Show 2009 (2)

This is the second issue on the Tokyo Motor Show.

After checking the Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi booths, I moved to Honda’s booth. As I was walking, I noticed a big display hanged from the ceiling which said “Make something that has never existed”. It looked promising.

I also saw many people disappearing into the space surrounded by those display boards one after another. Within a second or two, their show started. It was about a future city with hybrid and electric cars. The theme was a bit uninspired but when the human-shaped robot “ASIMO” came out half-way through and started dancing with people, I quite enjoyed it.

Next, I moved to Suzuki’s booth. The main attraction there was the launch of their staple car “Alto” with a new concept. The main changes are the new large meters, user-friendly floor shifts, larger luggage compartments, etc. To show the differences, they displayed the first generation Alto next to the newest model to make the evolved one look more attractive. However, I was too busy looking at the beautiful model coming on & off in front of the old model who was the most or the second most beautiful among all the models at the motor show. To be honest, with her rather classical appearance, the contrast between the classic Alto and modern beauty, the old model looked more attractive with the girl as the title of the Suzuki’s legend car.

I checked Mazda, Subaru and Daihatsu after that but they all had similar displays of hybrid and electric cars as well as small demonstrations; was not really impressive. Because of the recession, imported car manufacturers decided not to participate in the show, the size of the show was about half of the last show and only attracted about the half number of people.

To me, the most interesting thing was the exhibition of the 30th anniversary of Japan Car of the Year. From the first winner Mazda Familia to this year’s winner the Prius, they were all on display and they all brought back memories. “Yes, I’ve seen this car!”, “Oh, my friend who had this car looked incredibly happy when it won the Car of the Year”, “Yes, I borrowed this car from an older friend to take a girl out”, etc. There were so many things that came up in my mind.
There were more things there such as Yamaha and Harley Davidson motorbikes and parts manufacturers’ booths but I was running out of time so I quickly checked them.

Most manufacturers were concentrating on eco cars like electric cars, not flash in size and display, the whole show was less costly and eco-friendly. We could clearly see that there would be a big change from petrol cars in the near future. I love cars but I felt a bit worried if there are going to be any attractive hybrid / electric cars come into our life. What do you think?


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