A glimpse into the future of mobility

Those who come to see the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show are given the opportunity to see the latest automotive trends and a glimpse of what the future holds for vehicles and mobility.

The 44th staging of this prestigious event, which runs up to November 8 is at the Tokyo Big Sight, in Koto Ward, Tokyo. Aside from the awesome line up of automobiles of the present and the future it also presents what transportation may be like in 2020 with a large-scale exhibition called Smart Mobility City where visitors have the chance to ride in some of the newest cars and attend a number of conferences to hear from experts on what the future may hold as far as transport and mobility is concerned.

As one of the invited guests of Toyota Motor Philippines to this year’s staging of this biannual event I had two days, which were exclusive to the media, October 28 and 29 to feast my eyes on a fantastic array of the latest vehicles in the world market and those of the future from 30 vehicle manufacturers with 76 cars making their world premiers including 67 from domestic makers.

Toyota Motor Corp. unveiled several concept vehicles, including the FCV Prius, a hydrogen powered car with unconventional looks, the S-FR, a compact sports car and the KIKAI, which brings together a mix of retro and futuristic designs.

Honda Motor Co. showed its latest fuel cell vehicle, tentatively called FCV to promote green technology alongside an array of sports cars, NSX, the Civic Type R and the S660, which occupied premier showcase space in the largest floor area of any single brand at the show.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. placed on the spotlight the Mitsubishi eX Concept Compact SUV with a next generation electric vehicle (EV) system. It is a showcase of Mitsubishi Motor’s next generation EV technologies, a new take on the Dynamic Shield front design concept, which reflects the theme of “Driving Beyond—Another Step Forward with SUVs and Electric Power”.

This year’s Tokyo Motor Show was pushed three weeks earlier compared to its last staging in 2013. In the past the eagerly-awaited automotive event was held toward the end of November and the beginning of December making the use of the outside spaces limited due to cold temperatures. With this change of schedule, JAMA (Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association), the event organizers were able to hold several activities outside with the addition of several famous restaurants serving the visitors’ needs.

Watch out for the highlights of the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show on a series of TV specials to be aired on Auto Focus (Thursday, 10 pm, Solar Sports on Channel 70 Sky Cable, Channel 35 on Destiny Cable and Channel 55 on Cignal TV) and on its website www.autofocus.com.ph. This would be a compilation of the media coverage by STV’s vp for production, Jenny Bleza, who came with the Honda Cars Philippines contingent, Online operations manager, Ray Louis “Wee” Gamboa, who was with Mitsubishi Motors Philippines and this columnist.

Happy Motoring!!!

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