Regarding the Oct. 25 article, "Tokyo Motor Show offers peek at future": I am in the market for a new car. My 1985 Toyota has 290,000 kilometers on it and has been a wonderful car. Toyota has taken the market head on.
By comparison, The American market is a bust: 9 km/liter on average when oil prices are near $90 per barrel is insane. American carmakers don't get it.
That Japan is building energy-efficient cars is excellent, but what's with the CUTE-CAR craze? Are they marketing to teenage girls? I hate these silly manga faces and Hello Kitty headlights that the Japanese are designing into the grille.
Whatever happened to clean lines, the adult fit and finish that made Toyota a classic. Also some models are so low to the ground that a bottle will rip out the oil pan (read: no clearance). Others have such poor visibility that it's like driving a German tank. Beyond that, the Japanese do make the best cars. But for the sake of grown-up Westerners, please kill the CUTE!
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