Tokyo Motor Show focuses on green cars

Toyota held a viewing of its Tokyo Motor Show exclusively for the media. Feedback from the press indicates that the motor show aims to exhibit the technological resilience of the Japanese, despite the devastating natural calamities that hit the country in 2011. The 42nd motor show opened to the public in early December at the Makuhari Messe International Convention Complex in Chiba Prefecture. Some foreign exhibitors who withdrew last year due to the global financial crisis have joined this year’s show. “Mobility can change the world,” is this year’s theme. There were 53 new vehicles on exhibit. The big auto makers showed off their concept electric vehicles which are smaller than light vehicles, but bigger than motorcycles. Eco-friendly vehicles that will soon be launched are also on exhibit. A new and key concept that is highlighted in the motor show is the smarter use of energy which eliminates carbon dioxide emissions. Mitsubishi Motors President Osamu Masuko said, “The world’s energy policies have come under review after the quake-tsunami disaster in Japan, further promoting the use of natural resources, such as wind and solar power to generate electricity.” Masuko also emphasized that power storage is now becoming more important because natural power output has a tendency to fluctuate. (November 30, 2011)