Auto oddities get spotlight at Tokyo car show

updated 2:16 p.m. ET Oct. 24, 2007

CHIBA, Japan - With sales at home skidding, Japan’s automakers have turned to the odd, the sleek and the fuel-efficient to help accelerate buyer interest.

At the Tokyo Motor Show Wednesday, Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn rolled out in the GT-R, a flagship muscle car. Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe scooted out in a wheelchair-like “personal mobility” vehicle. Honda President Takeo Fukui chose a rubbery bubble-shaped fuel-cell model.

Similar offerings, spotted everywhere at a sprawling hall, shed light on how global automakers are hoping to woo buyers in mature markets such as the U.S., Europe and Japan — by appealing to their conscience about the environment and to their passion for speed.

Nissan General Manager Francois Bancon hopes the show will entice interest in cars, which he said was fading not only in Japan but also in Europe, especially among young people. “They are somehow rejecting the car as an icon,” he told The Associated Press.

Christopher J. Richter, analyst with Calyon Capital Markets Asia in Tokyo, said Japanese are not only buying fewer cars but also holding on to them longer.

“The decline in personal incomes particularly among young people has had a negative impact on the vehicle market,” he said.

Tokyo is notoriously unfriendly to car-owners, with expensive taxes and parking fees, and most urban-dwellers use commuter trains. The growing gap between the rich and poor here has also hurt car sales, analysts say.

Last year, Japan’s passenger car sales totaled about 3 million vehicles, down around 7 percent from the previous year.

Automakers say they hope the razzle-dazzle of the more than 500 models on display in this Tokyo suburb, from the jet-like GT-R to the futuristic electric cars, will perk public interest in cars and help revive the lagging sales.

Reporters got a preview look Wednesday at the biannual event, which is opening to the public Saturday.

The 7.8 million yen GT-R from Nissan Motor Co., unveiled at the Tokyo show with much fanfare, is a rare offering from the Japanese, more reputed for small cars with solid mileage than the GT-R’s twin turbo engine and carbon-fiber components.

The GT-R is being promised for under $80,000 in the U.S. next year. They go on sale in Japan in December. Ghosn said the company has received orders worth three months of production and plans to sell 1,000 GT-Rs a month.

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