Crazy Concept Cars from Japan

Completely independent of this project, I checked out both the Tokyo and Osaka Motor Show last year. While the bulk of the vehicles on display were existing models or near future models, there were some concept cars that caught my attention. The main feature of the entire show was the new Nissan GTR, but next to it on display was the Pivo2:



Over by the Honda booth, they were demonstrating the extremely squishy Puyo:



(Note: I didn't take the video)

While traditionally, most concept cars have been heavily industrial design driven and hype driving machines, these vehicles are much more futuristic (and as some people comment: insane). What's the thought behind them? What's driving them? Is this here to change current brand image or to adjust the course into the future?

A good (but Japanese) news segment covered these two concept cars along with the Toyota hybrid wheelchair vehicle (Toyota keeps focusing on personal mobility in the form of an automated wheel chair). Some commentators thought that this was representative of the car companies focusing on more user needs. Another pointed out their desperation and a bizarre attempt to create over-sized cellphones.

Are Japanese car companies desperate? While Toyota is setting record profits in the US, new Korean and Chinese companies are destined to challenge the low-end markets where the Japanese car companies thrive. Lexus (and to a lesser extent, Acura and Infiniti) is trying to create luxury Japanese brands so that they don't have to rely on the Camrys and the Accords.

So are these concept cars a way to lead the mobility market of the next decade? to radically reinvent the automobile?

It might be interesting to quickly skim through the history of concept cars, and I once briefly looked at Concept Car Design: Driving the Dream (I think it was this book) which looks like a good reference (maybe someone can grab it from the library?). From the introduction:

"Instead, this book looks at the way in which the concept car has developed, along with its role in the current industry, and the methods - technical, marketing, and otherwise - that lie behind its creation. It also looks at how car designers and car companies think and how the changing social perception of the automobile, our requirements, and technological development have informed the cars that come out of styling studios and ultimately the cars that we buy. The gap between fantasy and reality that was embodied by the dream car is closing fast."