• Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size
  • default color
  • green color
  • red color

Business Mirror

Saturday
Nov 21st
Fun Driving, Eco Driving PDF Print E-mail
Motoring
Written by Ira V. Panganiban   
Thursday, 22 October 2009 23:09
Toyota displays one of the biggest at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show

THE 41st Tokyo Motor Show opened its doors to the world’s media at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan, today, serving as a symbol of the Japanese car industry’s determination to rise above the prevailing global economic difficulties as well as serving as a venue to address environmental issues by unveiling environment-friendly vehicles.

The 13-day event, which is sponsored by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (Jama), will be open to the public from October 23 to November 4.  No less than 108 carmakers and auto parts manufacturers are participating in the biennial affair, with a total of 270 vehicles going on display in the 21,259-square-meter exhibition hall.  Thirty-nine world and 21 Japanese premieres were held, 27 of which were passenger cars.

The theme of this year’s show is “Fun Driving for Us, Eco Driving for Earth”—a reflection of the current global direction toward environmental awareness and conservation. The eight Japanese carmakers visibly threw their full support behind the auto show, one of the three biggest shows in the world, after the dreadful financial crash that threw the whole auto industry in disarray.

At a media briefing, Jama Chairman Satoshi Aoki said Japan’s auto market has matured. “Interest in automobiles among the youth is weaker than in past years, but we must make every possible effort to demonstrate the attractiveness of and dreams associated with automobiles to young people, who will become important customers in the future,” said Aoki, who is board chairman of Honda Motor Co.

 

The Honda Clarity, an electric car that is an environment-friendly solution to the growing problem of climate change.
Absent from this year’s auto show are the American and European brands, which paraded at the Shanghai Auto Show earlier this year. American brands like General Motors and Germany’s Volkswagen took part in the Chinese-led auto show but chose to skip Tokyo. This year, only two foreign participants in the passenger car section joined—Lotus of Britain and Alpina of Germany—down from the 26 that joined two years ago bringing the count to the lowest that participated in the show since 1954.

 

Jamaofficials said they now not only have to cope with weak demand for automobiles around the world, but also the increased presence of the Chinese auto market and the automakers’ move to shift their focus of business to China.

This year’s event includes a test-drive program with 29 cars provided. Visitors test and appreciate the cars like first-hand, which includes the next-generation models driving on a three-kilometer stretch of public road around Makuhari Messe. A motorcycle test drive is also included in the program, which will last for 10 days.

Auto consumers are now very conscious of the need to conserve the environment and the Japanese automakers have been keenly aware of this trend. Toyota Prius, which is a hybrid, is still one of the top on the list of best-selling passenger cars, while Honda’s hybrid Insight also fared well. Hybrid cars accounted for 8.9 percent of sales in Japan and are expected to increase variably in the near future. This development tends to strengthen the belief that the movement away from fossil fuel-powered automobiles is beginning to gain headway and may arrive sooner than expected.

< Prev   Next >