The Sweeter Side of the Tokyo Auto Salon 2011

Almost every show has them and the Tokyo Auto Salon is no exception. We're talking of course about the booth professionals. We'll be bringing you more spicy pictures from the floors of the Tokyo tuning show later on, but for now, here's a taste of some the lovely ladies that smiled at Phil our camera.

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2009 Tokyo Motor Show Downsizes, Cuts Days -Only 14 Automakers Confirmed

Organizing a car show in these difficult economic times for automakers and consumers alike is proving to be a very difficult task. And whilst the 41st Tokyo Motor Show which is to be held this fall is proceeding as planned, the show's organizers have been forced to make a bevy of changes due to limited participation from automakers and general exhibitors. As of March 24, 2009, only a mere 14 carmakers have confirmed participation.

These include: Alpina, Daihatsu, Porsche, Ferrari, Subaru, Lotus, Honda, Hyundai, Maserati, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Suzuki and Toyota.

Up until now, the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show has attracted the interest of only 122 companies from 8 countries whereas the previous show that was held in 2007 (the Tokyo motorshow in bi-annual) saw a total of 246 exhibitors from 11 countries.

Due to the weakened interest, the overall exhibition space will be about half the size of the previous show at 22,877 sqm (vs 44,587 sqm in 2007). The organizers also decided to shorten the show by four days and as such, the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show will be held for a period of 13 days (instead of 17) from October 23 to November 4, 2009 (public viewing begins on October 24).

Other measures include the cancelation of the large commercial vehicle exhibits and a change in the free admission policy that now includes junior high school children as well as elementary school children.

Tokyo Show: Nissan NV200 Small Van Concept

We don’t know why but Nissan decided to give us an early glimpse of a mini van concept that will debut at the Tokyo Motor Show, due to open in October. Called NV200, the mini van concept was jointly developed by Nissan Design Center in Japan and Nissan Design Europe which is based in London. According to Nissan, the NV200’s most prominent feature is a storage pod which extends from the van’s load area when the vehicle is parked. As the pod is deployed, the now empty load bay is transformed into a mobile office. -Continued after the jump

Shiro Nakamura, senior vice president and chief creative officer at Nissan Motors said, “a light commercial vehicle has a specific job to perform, but that’s no reason to design a purely rational vehicle with no warmth. For NV200, function becomes the aesthetic. Our concept is a highly efficient tool but one with a human touch”.

Nissan says that although NV200 answers specific needs of a professional underwater photographer with ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ storage zones in the pod for diving and camera equipment, if the van went into production the basic concept could be tailored to suit different customers.