Tokyo Motor Show
In Pictures: Eight green cars that are all the rage
JEREMY CATO
TOKYO— Globe and Mail Update
Published
Last updated
Highlights of this year’s 42nd annual Tokyo Motor Show
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Mazda Takeri concept car: Here is a good indication of the future for the Mazda6 mid-size sedan. Using the auto maker’s new Kodo design language, the next Mazda6 production car will draw many cues from this show car. That means a car is coming with, as Mazda described Kodo, “muscular forms and flowing profiles, conveying a sense of compressed energy and power.” When you think of a car design based on Kodo, imagine a crouching panther or leopard or cheetah poised to pounce.
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Toyota 86: We’ve seen this one coming at least since the 2009 Tokyo show where Toyota unwrapped its FT-86 concept. The 86 sports car will be sold in Japan, while in Europe it will be rebadged the GT86 and in North America is will be the Scion FR-S. Subaru and Toyota jointly developed this 200-horsepower coupe. The engine is a boxer four-cylinder engine sourced from Subaru. The Subaru version will be called the BRZ.
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Volkswagen Cross Coupe concept: VW surprised many with this all-new design, a hybrid crossover concept. VW insiders say the Cross Coupe signals a new styling direction for the auto maker’s crossovers such as next-generation versions of the Tiguan and Touareg. The concept can be operated in hybrid mode, using a front-mounted 40 kW electric motor supplementing a gas-burning engine. Peak horsepower: 148 peak horsepower. In all-wheel-drive mode, an 85 kW electric motor spins the rear axle. Volkswagen said the plug-in hybrid would travel roughly 65 km solely under electric power.
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Nissan Juke Nismo: Nismo, Nissan's motorsport arm, is going truly global in an effort to match the success of the likes of BMW's M division and Daimler's Mercedes AMG. Nismo is being established as a specialist tuning unit for the company's road cars and the Juke Nismo is an example of what that all means in the real world. The challenge for Nissan is to make Nismo a global force. For now, only diehard motorsport fans know Nismo outside of Japan. You will hear more going forward, even if you live in a cave. The Nismo push is part of a broader effort at Nissan, which is committed to introducing 15 new technologies a year going forward, said the company's head of research and development, Mitsuhiko Yamashita.
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Audi A1 Sportback: We’re not going to get this car in Canada, but the Japanese will. It’s a beauty, too – small but stylish, bold and fast. Unlike in Canada, the A1 is a very important model for Audi in Japan, accounting for about 25 per cent of the 20,000 sales expected in Japan this year. Audi will do about 16,000 in sales in Canada this year. Perhaps if Audi Canada sold the A1 it might hit 20,000 and match Japan.
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Honda Motor Co President Takanobu Ito poses next to the company's next-generation EV sports car EV-Ster (c) and next-generation plug-in hybrid vehicle AC-X at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show in Tokyo November 30, 2011. — REUTERS/Toru Hanai
Honda EV-Ster electric roadster
Honda Motor Co President Takanobu Ito poses next to the company's next-generation EV sports car EV-Ster (c) and next-generation plug-in hybrid vehicle AC-X at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show in Tokyo November 30, 2011.
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— TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty Images
Honda Micro Commuter
Takanobu Ito, President and CEO of Honda Motor, introduces its concept car Micro Commuter Concept, which is 2.5 metres long and 1.25 metres wide, during the Tokyo Motor Show.
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Nissan President and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn with the company's concept car PIVO3 during the Tokyo Motor Show in Tokyo.— AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye
Nissan PIVO3
Nissan President and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn with the company's concept car PIVO3 during the Tokyo Motor Show in Tokyo.
