Tokyo motor show morphs

JAPAN’S biennial Tokyo motor show will be held later in the year at a new waterfront venue in the Japanese capital from 2011 as the organisers try to rebuild its status as Asia’s premier automobile exhibition against China’s massive Shanghai and Beijing motor shows.

The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) also announced that next year’s 42nd Tokyo motor show will be shortened by three days, running for 10 days from Friday December 2 to Sunday December 11 – several weeks later than the traditional October slot.

Two days of press previews will precede the public expo from Wednesday, November 30, 2011, followed by a ‘special guests’ day before the gates open to the public on Saturday, December 3, 2011.

JAMA has chosen the Tokyo Big Sight site at Ariake, Koto-ku, in Tokyo, describing it as “reborn”.

The show will incorporate passenger and commercial vehicles, along with vehicle bodies, machinery and tools.

Among the mooted exhibits is a “future society surrounding cars” showcase and a greater emphasis on lifestyle related themes associated with vehicle ownership.

Also along these lines, JAMA says that a ‘Carrozzeria’ coach building display is likely, as is the increased participation of information and communication industries, along with Japanese urban systems, and environment and energy sustainability groups.

The move to a 10-day instead of the previous 13-day format is a response to the wishes of many exhibitors from Japan and abroad, according to JAMA.

The revamp come on the coattails of the poorly attended 2009 Tokyo motor show that – in the grip of the global financial crisis – suffered the withdrawal of almost every international car manufacturer, including General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai. Only 11 car-makers appeared, compared with 35 in 2007.

From 1959 through to 1987 the Japanese event was held at the Tokyo International Trade Centre in Harumi, Tokyo, switching to the Makuhari Messe in Chiba city from 1989 until last year. In that time JAMA says a total of 17 million visitors passed through the turnstiles.