Raw Japan
Slices of Japanese business, politics and life
Tokyo’s shrinking motor show
Before the Tokyo Motor Show kicked off this week, I wrote about how subdued the biennial event was likely to be this year, in the absence of any foreign automakers or even domestic truck makers.
But I’m not sure I was quite prepared for what I witnessed here on the second day of the media preview days.
Sitting here in the press centre where there are nearly 200 work spaces set up, you could almost hear a pin drop. Most of the seats are empty, and there’s only the low hum of hard drive motors escaping from the laptops of the few of us left here.
As a car industry reporter, I’ve been to dozens of motor shows on three continents over the past seven years. At the media centres, it’s usually a mad rush to grab a spot or a LAN cable connection; and there’s no guarantee someone wouldn’t pull the cord anyway, if you leave your PC unattended for more than half an hour.
Electric dreams
The Tokyo Motor Show later this month is expected to be a very understated event, with foreign carmaker participation almost nil and outlays by Japanese firms reflecting hard times in the industry.
But Electric Vehicles, or EVs, and hybrids will be on display in force, with Toyota, Honda and Nissan giving previews ahead of the late October show.
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Resident Raw Japan Expert
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