Walking The Tokyo Motor Show With Nissan's Enfant Terrible, Part Deux

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Yesterday, you had your private tour of the Tokyo Motor Show, and you could not find a more competent and entertaining tour guide than Nissan’s head designer Francois Bancon. (Officially, „Deputy Divisional GM for Product Strategy.”) The former Renault man has seen the world. He was a Frenchman of the first hour at Nissan.

If you want to see the Japanese market through European eyes, then please tag along for part deux of the tour, where Bancon talks about Suzuki, Honda, and Daimler. Listen closely to what Bancon says about Daimler. Renault/Nissan and Daimler have an alliance, and Bancon knows where it is heading

Executive summary for the video-impaired:

Bancon on Suzuki’s Swift EV Hybrid

“The Swift is not a hybrid, but a range-extender, a series hybrid. Swift is a very successful, a good car that is successful in India, somehow in Europe and a little bit less in Japan. You have an internal combustion engine powertrain exclusively used to recharge a battery. The car is a normal, rear-wheel powertrain. It’s a smart technology – it’s also an expensive technology. So, I’m not sure how much they’re going to price for this. But the idea is interesting in a compact package.”

Bancon on Honda’s N-Concept:

“This is a kei car category. The most important segment is what we call the high-wagon kei car. Honda was not there. So, now they decide to enter because the kei car is about 40% of the passenger vehicles in Japan, and they were not in the most promising category, so they went now back on track with the N-series and they’re going to compete with our Roox. It’s a box with wheels and you’re done.”

Bancon on the Mercedes and Ducati motorbike partnership:

This is interesting because Mercedes is not a bike maker, as opposed to their main competitor in Germany. And they did this collaboration with Ducati and this is just a monster. And this is not by chance that Mercedes is also promoting the AMG series. I think they are pushing this direction to communicate the kind of high level of performance for the Mercedes brand. AMG was in Frankfurt, in Paris, now in Tokyo. It’s a kind of emblem, a kind of direction in which Mercedes wants to position themselves.”

Bancon on the Mercedes B-Class:

“This is interesting because this is a new-generation platform for Mercedes. This is also the platform for which we have some discussion with them about using some common components. Nothing really new—they just make the B-class better in terms of utility, roominess. The performance remains the same.”

Bancon on the Mercedes Concept-A:

Close to the B-class, you have the other one, which shares the same hardware components. And this is giving you some direction about where Mercedes is going in terms of design expression. This is going to be the No. 3 or 4 car they will build on the new architecture, called MFA, which is something we’re sharing with Mercedes, possibly in the future.”

There were no American makers at the Tokyo Motor Show, which prevented Bancon from saying good things about Americans.


Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments
Join the conversation
 3 comments
  • Friedclams Friedclams on Dec 08, 2011

    I'm not a professional car stylist, but but man those new Mercedes-Benz are homely. And the tail lights are aping Audi! Somehow trying to co-brand Mercedes with Ducati seems off-key to me. Despite wishful thinking, Mercedes does not represent, nor should it try to co-opt, raw (Italian!) style and performance. What are they really trying to say here? He's right to laud the Honda EV, that's an elegant design.

    • Philadlj Philadlj on Dec 08, 2011

      Styling-wise, I like where BMW has come since dumping Bangle far more than I like what Benz is doing to their lineup. Mercedes are taking more and more from 1990s Pontiac style - extraneous bulges, vents, and cladding galore - which is fine...for 1990s Pontiac.

  • GS650G GS650G on Dec 08, 2011

    No Americans at TMS this year? That's a surprise given the overseas expansion of GM and the lofty goals all three have to increase share worldwide. Didn't FIAT bring any of their new Chrysler jewels to TMS?

  • GregLocock That's a bodge, not a solution. Your diff now has bits of broken off metal floating around in it.
  • The Oracle Well, we’re 3-4 years in with the Telluride and right around the time the long term durability issues start to really take hold. This is sad.
  • CoastieLenn No idea why, but nothing about a 4Runner excites me post-2004. To me, they're peak "try-hard", even above the Wrangler and Gladiator.
  • AZFelix A well earned anniversary.Can they also attend to the Mach-E?
  • Jalop1991 The intermediate shaft and right front driveshaft may not be fully engaged due to suspected improper assembly by the supplier. Over time, partial engagement can cause damage to the intermediate shaft splines. Damaged shaft splines may result in unintended vehicle movement while in Park if the parking brake is not engagedGee, my Chrysler van automatically engages the parking brake when we put it in Park. Do you mean to tell me that the idjits at Kia, and the idjit buyers, couldn't figure out wanting this in THEIR MOST EXPENSIVE VEHICLE????
Next