Wooing back the connected generation

Visions of cars that drive themselves without emitting a bit of pollution while entertaining passengers with online movies and social media took centre stage at the Tokyo Motor Show.

Japan, home to the world’s top-selling carmaker, has a younger generation disinterested in owning or driving cars. The show is about wooing them back. It’s also about pushing an ambitious government-backed plan that paints Japan as a leader in automated driving technology.

Nissan Motor showed a concept vehicle loaded with laser scanners, a 360 degree camera setup, a radar and computer chips so the car can “think” to deliver autonomous driving.