Just-in-time auto industry news and analysis
At the Daily Kanban, we have been all over Toyota’s fuel cell car, actually, we have been in one long before it broke cover. We also did show you pictures of the prototype. What else is left to do? Show you the real thing as on display at the Tokyo Motor Show. [ There is more … ]
Young people allegedly losing their enthusiasm for the car is all over the media. In Europe and Japan, automakers have been aware of the issue for decades. Not because young people are losing their enthusiasm. It’s because in the late 60’s, early 70’s, now older people in Japan and northern Europe lost their enthusiasm for making babies. Those missing babies now turn into missing customers in the showrooms. Which, in turn, makes it necessary to sell more cars to younger people to make up for the lack of older ones. At the Tokyo Motor Show Nissan shows a concept car targeted at what Nissan calls the “Digital Natives.”
Belying the rumor that to be successful in Japan, one has to sell bonsai cars, Porsche debuts in Tokyo its (most likely) longest car ever. [ There is more … ]
Someone at Audi had a great idea for the Tokyo Motor Show: “How about we only show red cars in our booth? Talk about maximized visual impact.” It was a great idea. Until this morning. [ There is more … ]
Meanwhile, it’s all over the Internet that the new Nissan GT-R Nismo rounded the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring in a scant 7 minutes 8 seconds, leaving machines like the Dodge Viper ACR, the Lexus LFA, sundry Porsches, Maseratis, and the odd Camaro in the dust. The time was attacked on September 30, and it is amazing that Nissan could keep the matter under wraps until the story could be deployed for highest PR efficiency the night before the Tokyo Motor Show during a party at Nissan’s Yokohama HQ. [ There is more … ]
The Lexus NXB Concept
This bicycle is the only thing that is left of the Lexus LFA glorious supercar past. On display at the Tokyo Motor show, the bicycle has been built using the rare and expensive machinery formerly used to make the all carbon-fiber body of the Lexus LFA. [ There is more … ]
Two days before the Tokyo Motor Show opens to the media, Lexus gave a big party at the Ryogoku Kokugikan. That hard to pronounce location usually hosts sumo wrestling matches where oversized and barely dressed wrestlers try to push each other out of the ring. The stars of this evening were two new Lexus cars. One was the Lexus RC-300 coupe. The Daily Kanban already did show you PR pictures of the sports coupe. Above, the car in real. [ There is more … ]
This is global auto show monster week. Los Angeles. Tokyo. Guangzhou. All at the same time. A scheduling nightmare for automakers. For us, time to take a few days off to do some serious newsgathering at pre-show parties all over Tokyo, and, of course, at media days, Nov 20 & 21. Look for the Daily Kanban Tokyo Show special on Nov 21.
If you need anything from the Tokyo Show, but have already blown your travel budget on LA and Guangzhou, then send us a message.
