Car wars at Tokyo show

Designers of Nissan's five-door electric hatchback, the Leaf, have added a high-tech look with blue-tinted light-emitting diode headlights and blue interior lighting and trim. Photo / Supplied

Japanese arch-rivals Toyota and Honda clashed at this week's Tokyo motor show over the future of the car, while Nissan firmed up its commitment to plug-in power with the first public appearance of the Leaf, the five-door electric hatchback due in New Zealand in 2012.

Toyota unveiled its new two-seater Lexus LFA coupe, a V10-powered supercar described as "old-fashioned" by Honda president Takanobu Ito. The future, he said, is about clean, sustainable cars and sports cars are no exception.

But Toyota's new boss, Akio Toyoda, says the LFA is a crucial product in a world where motorisation is spreading.

"It's our mission as automakers to offer cars that possess the 'fun' spirit that should be at the base of any car," he said.

The world's biggest carmaker is planning to limit LFA production to 500 units, between December 2010 and December 2012. It was taking orders for the US$375,000 ($500,000) car at the show.

The LFA uses a 4.8-litre V10 engine that propels it from zero to 100km/h in 3.7 seconds and on to a top speed of 325km/h.

Honda had been preparing a V10 rival to the LFA in the form of the second-generation NSX, but it ditched the project, citing an urgent need to save money amid the economic downturn and the growing consumer shift toward greener cars.

"The era of V10 engines is gone," said Ito, who betrayed no sense of regret over the canned project despite having designed the ground-breaking all-aluminum body on the NSX back in 1990.

Ito has other ideas for what a sports car for the next generation could look like: a zero-emission fuel-cell car like Honda's FCX Clarity, which is currently on lease in limited numbers in the US and Japan. Actor Jamie-Lee Curtis drives an FCX.

Honda has never billed the sleek, hydrogen-powered sedan as a sports car, but Ito said it had all the characteristics to qualify.

"It's light because it's not weighed down by a tonne of batteries," he said in a jab at the battery-powered and Lotus-based electric sports cars built by US start-up Tesla Motors.

"When you weigh a car down like that, it undermines the characteristics of a sports car.

"But if you have a light car like the FCX Clarity that's powered by a motor, you get maximum torque from a zero start and acceleration is incredible. In a way, that's a sports car."

Honda showed off a near-production version of its sporty CR-Z hybrid, billed as the spiritual successor to the CR-X.

The wedge-shaped CR-Z is wider and stouter than the concept first unveiled at the Tokyo show two years ago.

Outfitted with blue lighting and trim for a high-tech feel, the car aims to fuse performance with fuel economy.

"We want to take sporty cars in a new direction," said CR-Z exterior designer Takashi Nagura. "We want to make the image healthier."

The front-wheel-drive car pairs Honda's integrated motor assist hybrid system with a 1.5-litre i-VTEC engine and six-speed manual transmission. Honda hasn't announced fuel economy figures.

Honda New Zealand is eyeing the hybrid CR-Z. "Yes, we're looking at it but it's at least a year away," said marketing manager Graeme Meyer.

Nissan is banking on the Leaf to catapult it into the lead in the race for ultraclean vehicles.

The plug-in EV is expected to be available for lease in Auckland by 2011, through car rental company Europcar. Nissan expects the five-door to cost around $37,500 and command monthly repayments and running costs on a par with a same-sized family hatchback.

Selling the car may hinge on the appeal of its quirky, high-tech features as much as the merits of its battery-powered drivetrain.

Nissan aims to emphasise that the Leaf is no ordinary car.

"There is no muffler, no exhaust system," said the car's chief designer, Masato Inoue.

Aside from its 80kW motor and lithium-ion batteries, the Leaf sports other novelties:

* Bumpers and interior trim made from recycled plastic bottles and fabrics.

* Batteries that can be recharged remotely through the driver's mobile phone.

* Special tyres to reduce running noise usually masked by a noisy combustion engine.

* Rear tail-light surrounds to improve aerodynamics and deliver a slick 0.28 drag coefficient.

Nissan will begin to mass-produce the Leaf next year. It expects to have 20,000 Leafs pre-sold in the United States alone and wants to make around 200,000 a year worldwide by 2012.

A key to differentiating the Leaf from its petrol-powered brethren is the V-shaped contours of the front hood and nose, as well as the vertical placement of the headlights. Similar design language will be employed in other electric vehicles Nissan is planning, Inoue says.

To imbue the Leaf with its high-tech aura, designers outfitted the car with blue-tinted light-emitting diode headlights and blue trim and lighting throughout the interior. It also gets a shift-by-wire mouse-type shift knob inspired by the trackball used in video games.

The Leaf also lacks a petrol cap lid. Instead, it has a recharge port hidden under the Nissan badge at the front of the car.

* The 41st Tokyo motor show is the smallest in history, hosting just 122 companies from 10 countries - down by 120 on 2007 numbers - and unveiling 20 passenger car debuts.

The event has also been shortened from the usual 17 days to just 13, making it the shortest Tokyo show since the 37th running in 2003.

The global economic recession forced American, European and South Korean carmakers to stay at home. The only non-Japanese carmakers at the show are European niche brands Alpina-BMW, Lotus and Caterham.

- Additional reporting, agencies