Top Cars of the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show
The 2019 Tokyo Motor Show is about what you’d expect: cars for the specific needs of a densely populated country with few onshore energy resources. Thus, lots of electric vehicles, small cars, really small cars, and retro car concepts that look odd to American tastes that same way Plymouth’s PT Cruiser looked to Japan when it came out in 2000. Every Asian auto show targets trends not fully embraced by American shows, such as the need for greater efficiency through battery power or as plug-in hybrids. Or as scooters and motorbikes.
The Tokyo Motor Show is Japan’s top car show and competes with Auto Shanghai (odd years)/Auto Beijing (even years) in April. Toyota/Lexus, Mitsubishi, and Subaru were especially busy this week.
Here’s our pick of the most compelling introductions out of Tokyo.
The gen-four 2020 Honda Fit (Jazz in some markets) subcompact hatchback will have a gasoline / two-motor-hybrid option, the hybrid using a new e:HEV monicker, a new infotainment system, and an improved Honda Sensing safety system. Some functions will be smartphone-controlled. Still unclear: If Fits will still be sold in the US.
The MX-30 is Mazda's first EV, a small crossover with a 33.5-kWh battery. Later it may get a Wankel (rotary) engine range-extender a la BMW i3 in case you run short on electrons. We estimate EV range at 125 miles. (Nissan Leaf gets 150 miles out of 40 kWh.) The MX-30 is expected to come to the US, eventually if not immediately.
The Lexus LF-30 "Electrified" concept has steering wheel switches controlling audio and AV, gesture controls, and augmented reality displays. Rear passengers use AR to see starry sky videos and navigation info on the moonroof. The Lexus Airporter moves your luggage from the front door to the trunk. It can be switched into and out of autonomous mode. All Lexus models get electrification by 2025.
Here's a car that looks familiar: the Subaru WRX STI. Subaru is celebrating the end of the 304-hp 2.0-liter turbo motor, with which we're not familiar because we get a 2.5-liter turbo. Subaru built 555 models with gold BBS wheels and special trim. A lottery decides who gets to pay $42,000 for them. The US engine continues on 1-2 years before replacement.
The second generation of the Subaru Levorg station wagon debuted, part of the Subaru Global Platform. Wagons barely sell in the US, so it won't come here. But it may provide visual cues for the next-gen WRX, which lives on an older platform. "Levorg?" Subaru says it derives from the words Legacy, Revolution, and Touring (wagon). Levorg has a new generation of the Subaru Eyesight drier safety system, combining cameras and radar.
The Suzuki Waku SPO is a shape-shifting, two-door, plug-in hybrid coupe, inspired by the 1960s Suzuki Fronte 360. (They waited a long time to recall the shape for concept car duty.) You want a coupe, you've got a coupe. A wagon/SUV? It morphs. It's an A-segment car, meaning mini or city cars. Think Fiat 500 or a small Mini. Unlikely to be a US car, were this to be made into a real product.
The Toyota Ultra-Compact BEV, for Business concept, is a one-person EV runabout mobile office for the person who'll work in a parking lot before meeting a client. When the seat slides back, there's space for a laptop, tablet, and paper documents. Range is 100 km/62 miles. It's 98 inches long and 58 inches wide, about the same as a sheet of plywood.
The Nissan Ariya Concept is a compact-size twin-motor crossover EV of 181 inches with ProPilot 2.0 hands-off autonomy in a single lane. It has the look and feel of a production-ready EV. The cockpit uses dual 12.3-inch LCDs. There are almost no cockpit knobs; instead, there are touch-sensitive icons on the dashboard.
The Mitsubishi Motors Mi-Tech Concept represents a small electrified SUV (open top here) concept car. It uses a plug-in hybrid built around a gas turbine — yes, a turbine engine — a generator, and electric motors at each wheel. It would seat a driver and passenger.
The four-passenger Toyota LQ concept is intended to be a Level 4 car (full automation on limited-access roads) with a Siri-like personal assistant: Yui will build an emotional bond between car and driver. To make the driver peppier, or less agitated, it might employ the HVAC, infotainment, onboard fragrances, or seat massager. Digital mirror device (DMD) headlamps can flash images or messages on the road.
The show got an extra dose of energy as Japan-flagged automakers began a runup of new models and concepts in advance of the summer Olympics games starting next July. Even a nation as developed as Japan wants to show off. There were, for instance, a number of mobility concepts for the country’s aging demographic that move one person about town, and assisted walking devices.
The 46th Tokyo Motor Show show just completed two days of press introductions and opens to the public on Friday (Oct. 25). It runs through Monday, Nov. 4.
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