The Tokyo Auto Salon (Makuhari Messe, Chiba Prefecture) was held for three days from January 10, 2025.

The Tokyo Auto Salon was originally a festival for custom and tuning cars, mainly for tuning shops catering to car enthusiasts, but in the past 10 years, it has become a place for automakers to present new cars (including their own optional parts) following the Tokyo Motor Show (now the Japan Mobility Show). In recent years, the show has also become a place for automobile and parts manufacturers to showcase their new vehicles (including their own optional parts). In addition, in recent years, it appears that automakers and parts suppliers are using the show as a venue for various technology studies, including BEVs and other electric vehicles. Toyota exhibited its famous AE86 conversion BEV in 2023 and 2024, and the GR Yaris, a new drive system with a new engine mounted in the rear midship, in 2025. Nissan also exhibited a conversion BEV of the R32 SKYLINE GT-R, a famous car of the Heisei era, as a static model of BEV’s drive control technology in 2025.

Meanwhile, a black ship is expected to come to Japan from China again around the end of this year. BYD has announced plans to launch a PHEV in Japan in January 2025. The name of the car has not yet been announced, but it is likely to be the “Qin L DM-i”. This car has a cruising range (battery + fuel) of 2,100 km, which is 1.5 times that of the Toyota Prius PHEV, if differences in test modes are ignored. In China, the range battle is heating up from a marketing perspective, and Geely’s latest PHEV, the Galaxy Starship 7 (Galaxy Starship 7), which follows BYD, has a range of 2,390km. A full tank of gas and a full charge will get you to the southernmost tip of Kyushu and back if you leave Tokyo with a full charge.

With the inauguration of the second Trump administration in the U.S. and the proposed revision of CO2 regulations in Europe, automakers are likely to put more effort into developing hybrids as well as BEVs in the future. The Edo Shogunate built the “Odaiba (turret)” to intercept black ships. Japanese automakers currently have the upper hand in the hybrid market, but they may need to restructure their hybrid business to prepare for future black ships.