2005 Tokyo Motor Show, Part VII

TCC's Auto Show Index by TCC Team (10/3/2005)
Our coverage of the world's major auto shows, year to year.

2005 Tokyo Motor Show Index by TCC Team (10/18/2005)

 

Giugiaro’s Ferrari Celebration

One of the most striking cars on display at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show was also among the most difficult to find, tucked well away from the major Japanese and import automakers’ stands. The Ferrari GG50 concept car brings together two of the Italian auto industry’s best-known names in a rare, but well-received collaboration. Based on the 612 Scaglietti, the two-door show vehicle is the work of legendary Giorgetto Giugiaro, and designed to mark the 50th anniversary of his Turin design house, ItalDesign. The GG50 prototype is just a little shorter than the production 612, with a fastback tail that conceals the hatchback’s lid. The show car’s rear seats have been modified to fold down, creating a large, flat cargo compartment — a serious shortfall in the actual Scaglietti. Giugiaro’s design retains the big V-12. ItalDesign did make some other interior changes, intended to improve ergonomics. The exercise was sanctioned by Ferrari CEO Luca di Montezemolo, though no production plans are in place, according to officials from both companies.

 

 

Tokyo’s Simulated Enthusiasm

 

Concept cars, those fantasies in chrome, have traditionally been the big draw at the Tokyo Motor Show. But it’s hard to match the imagination of digital designers, and these days, the biennial show draws a large crowd to its virtual fantasy booths. All along the wide mezzanine, crowds jostle for time at the various racing and rally video game centers, with their like-real controllers and oversize displays. Why not, in a city where dense traffic makes it hard to drive at more than a crawl, even in a Ferrari or Lamborghini. “I’m amazed at how well we do in this country, considering there’s really no place to drive our cars the way they’re designed,” gaped the CEO of a European supercar maker. “Maybe this is the only way they’ll really ever experience what it’s like.”

 

 

Ghosn Sees “Terrible” October

 

Though it’s still more than a week before manufacturers wrap up and report U.S. sales figures, it’s become clear that October will be a “terrible” month, according to Carlos Ghosn. The CEO of both Nissan and its French alliance partner, Renault, he glumly said he is “not very bullish on the U.S. market.” In a media briefing at the Tokyo Motor Show, Ghosn said it looks like industry sales will be down about 30 percent, if the first half of October is any indication. Nissan is doing slightly better than average, he added. With sales down about 20 percent, the Japanese maker should actually see a modest market share gain. Preliminary industry reports suggest that Detroit ’s automakers will be hardest hit, reflecting a variety of factors, such as payback from employee-pricing programs, and the impact of rising fuel prices on SUV sales. But despite growing pessimism, Ghosn insisted, “I think the Big Three are coming back. I would not discount the Big Three too fast. This is a story of turnaround. They will react and come back.”

 

 

 

Honda Thinks Simpler Sells

Though it was first to market a hybrid-electric vehicle, or HEV, in the U.S., Honda has watched its arch-rival, Toyota , overtake it in the sales sweepstake. Honda’s original Insight is barely registering on the charts, and the automaker’s Accord and Civic hybrids aren’t doing much better. But CEO Takeo Fukui asserted that in the long-run, “I am sure our IMA (Integrated Motor Assist) system will prove its superiority.” In an interview, he told TheCarConnection.com that driving down the hybrid price premium — up to $10,000 on some models — will be the key to transforming HEVs into mainstream products. And that will be easier, Fukui added, with a one-motor system like the IMA, than Toyota ’s complex, two-motor Synergy Drive . The real test, he acknowledged, will be the way the U.S. market reacts to Honda’s second-generation Civic Hybrid, just getting ready to go on sale.

 

 

 

China Quality Lags, Says Fukui

 

Demand for Honda’s Chinese-made Fit subcompact has exceeded initial expectations, and the automaker is getting ready to ramp up production from 30,000 to 50,000 next year. At the same time, CEO Takeo Fukui acknowledged that the Chinese version of the Fit has had some problems, most notably with interior fit-and-finish. “It’s true, Chinese-made Fits sometimes have quality problems,” compared to identical versions being built in Japan, Fukui told TheCarConnection.com. But he stressed that the automaker is working to correct the problem at the source, and in the meantime, defective vehicles are being “fixed immediately” upon arrival in Europe, before they are shipped to showrooms. A version of the Fit will launch in the U.S. next year, but the Honda CEO said there are no plans to import the car from China.

 

 

The Girls of Tokyo

Tokyo ’s concept-car dramatics were in full swing this year, but fashionistas and hormonal car writers alike noticed one thing largely missing from Makuhari — lots of outrageously clad Japanese models dressed in vacuum cleaner bags, Dr. Seuss-style lederhosen and half-robotic bondage gear, all of which have been spotted on the show floor during media days in past years. With Japan ’s decade-long recession lifting, we’re hoping that the few-and-far-between spottings of Sputnik-styled daywear and Day-Glo bob haircuts are a sign of the future and not the past. With the doldrums lifting, we hope we’ll see more of these showgirls and their unfailingly weird wardrobes. And who knows? Maybe Detroit will take a hint and you’ll see fins and side skirts on more than the latest new sheetmetal.