Taking advantage of the TMS to showcase its wide variety of concept vehicles and ground-breaking automotive technologies, Toyota is showing a total of seven concept cars with strong emphasis on environmental considerations.
These are: The Fine-X, a new concept fuel cell hybrid vehicle; the Estima hybrid, a new generation hybrid minivan; the I-Swing, a new personal mobility vehicle; the FSC, a new category Flexible Saloon Concept; the bB Concept, a music player in the shape of a car; the RAV4 Concept, a new small SUV; and the TF105, an F1 racing car.
A crowd drawer at the Toyota booth is the Fine-X, a revolutionary new concept that Toyota says gives a glimpse of the automobile’s future, provides the environmental performance of a fuel cell hybrid system and features an easy movement through four-wheel independent drive control. Combining both fuel-cell and hybrid technologies, the Fine-X runs on electricity generated through a chemical reaction between oxygen and hydrogen that releases only water vapor as a byproduct and a hybrid system that combines gasoline powered engines with an electric motor to increase fuel efficiency and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
"The hybrid system is a core environmental technology that can be applied to any energy source," said Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe during a press briefing at the opening of the TMS. "Using the opportunity of the motor show, we would like to attract customers’ attention to our attitude (of social responsibility) and the future directions of our products," he added.
Following the market success of its Prius hybrid car, Toyota is targeting to produce in 2006 some 400,000 Prius to meet a growing demand. Toyota is so confident about its hybrid technology that it aims to produce all its automobiles in hybrid versions in six years.
Also an attraction is the I-Swing, a single person vehicle which can operate on a twowheel mode when traveling on a bustling street full of people and on a three-wheel mode then one needs to move faster.
The FSC, another attraction, is a new category vehicle model "that evolves and combines the elegance of a sedan and the utility of a minivan." On the other hand, the Estima Hybrid Concept is a minivan that combined the latest hybrid system, THS II, with electric 4WD to achieve both environmental and driving performance. The THS II is Toyota’s highly efficient hybrid system.
Toyota also displayed its "Lexus Flagship Sedan Concept Car" and two other new concept vehicles — the GS450h, a premium sedan fitted with a newly-developed hybrid system, and the LF-A, a premium, two-seater sports car — that easily won raves from the eager crowd.
Developed by Lexus, the GS450h will be the world’s first hybrid system designed for front-engine, rear-wheeled drive passenger vehicle.
The TMS opened to the public on Oct. 22 and will end on Nov. 6. Organizers, led by Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, expect to draw a total of 1.5 million visitors in 16 exhibition days. Over 570 vehicles, including the latest motorcycles, are on display.
