MAKUHARI MESS!

If anyone wants to understand or better still see for himself as to the effects of the economic recession which hit the world last year, they needed to be at the sprawling Makuhari Messe showground which for years has played host to the biannual Tokyo Motor Show. In its previous edition this show was chock-a-block with all the world's major makes jostling for space and consumer attention and it really tired out any determined automobile journo wanting to cover the entire spectrum of the automotive wares on display - cars, motorcycles, commercial vehicles and speciality service providers cum ancillary manufacturers.
 
But that was then and today, on the press day of the 41st Tokyo Motor Show, we were in for a shock. Maybe not a shock as much as a reality check because it seemed that the event was more of a domestic show rather than the prolific international event that it had become. Just three halls and the Japanese OEMs in it putting on a brave face. Heck, Honda and Suzuki just spoilt it all by planting a few motorcycles around their cars and only Yamaha and Harley-Davidson had large two-wheeler displays. To cap it all Kawasaki didn't show up as did Italian bike maker Ducati, which has something of a cult following in the land of the rising sun. None of the German car makers was present while the French and Italian firms were mighty conspicuous by their absence.
 
I used to take the better part of two entire press days to cover a Tokyo Motor Show and believe you me it was a pretty exacting task, draining physically and mentally as you had to be constantly on the move, shooting, discussing, networking, unravelling the tech and the style and even then agonising on what you might have missed out on. This year I was done in four hours flat and that too because I was a bit under the wind so took that much time. Nissan and Mitsubishi kicked off the press conference schedules followed by Toyota, Daihatsu and Lexus. Next up we had Subaru and Mazda followed by Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and Harley-Davidson.
 
Seemed sort of hollow for a diehard showgoer and automotive industry chronicler like yours truly but it was inevitable. Sales in Japan have fallen massively and while the domestic OEMs are trying to regroup and rebuild, the short term scene is one of back to the wall grit and determination. And it showed tellingly as every car maker worth his petrol ingenuity was now hard at work with EVs!
 
Yes electric vehicles seemed to be like a plague on the three halls (noramlly six to seven) of the Makuhari Messe, and everyone plus his grandmother had hybrids dotting their stands. I have not much love for these appliances on wheels but do know that they are an abject necessity. And unavoidable medicine if you please but hey guys can we engineer some emotion in them? Thank god then for the standard bearer of the hybrid segment, Toyota which showed off its FT86 sports car built in a collaboration with Subaru (it uses the latters flat four engine and other bits) but the star of the show came in the form of the production version of the Lexus LFA sportscar - a classic front-engined, rear-wheel drive machine packing in a 4.8 litre V10 engine with 560PS on tap! It looked and sounded gorgeous and thankfully even in these times there are enthusiasts lurking in the most unlikely of places!

If the Lexus LFA was the star automobile of the show for me and many others, the accolade for the standout motorcycle of the show had to be the new VFR1200R road sports motorcycle by Honda. This bike, which we showed you exclusively in ZigWheels.com over the last two weeks, is more impressive in the flesh than in print. Photos dont do it justice at all. And if Honda truly knows bikes it should get this to India, ASAP.

And to truly underscore what was a highlight of the show for me - this was the first time ever that I could file a couple of stories from the Makuhair Messe since the time I began covering this show in 1995. No it wasn't anything else but the fact that work was done early. Sometimes recession does help but I am sure that speaking for the industry and myself, we both could do without it. Or the scale of it in case that is something to look forward to!