One of Honda's less publicized world premieres at the 42nd edition of the Tokyo Motor Show could well very turn out to be the most interesting. We're talking about the new N Concept 4 which is a follow up to the EV-N study that was displayed at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.
The new N Concept 4 has not only veered closer to production in styling but it will actually go on sale next year. The announcement was made by Sho Minekawa, who is the Managing Officer and CEO for Honda Regional Sales Operations in Japan, during the company's presentation in Tokyo.
"As a part of the N Series, a new model based on N Concept 3 will be introduced to the market in spring 2012, followed by the introduction of another model based on N Concept 4 in fall 2012," said Minekawa. "With that, we will strive to increase our mini-vehicle sales to 280,000 units, which would double the sales of 2011," he added.
The N Concept 4 will be based on the running gear of Honda's new Kei-class N Box tall city car, which also made its world premiere in Tokyo but more on that later.
It's still too early to know Honda's exact sales plan, but like the model that inspired its creation, the 1967-1972 N360, the production version of the N Concept 4 will probably be a global mini – which kind of makes sense if Honda want's to double its mini car sales.
Compared to the 2009 EN-V study, the new concept has grown in size and obtained another set of doors while Honda's designers also refined the car's styling.
5 Comments:
It's more a Nissan Cube competitor than Fiat 500.
Very very Japanese looking. It's one of those "kei" cars. I'd be shocked if they intend to sell it outside of Japan.
The older concept was much better.
What would it take for those headlights to make it to any production vehicle? Like in general. Concept vehicles always have these rubies and diamonds for headlights assembled out of LEDs and cleverly warped plastic. But go to production and they lose their luster. I know it's a cost and logistic issue, but I just don't see where.. is the cost really too high to justify mass-production? I'd like to say "a light is a light", but I'm clearly wrong in this assumption...
I agree - they always look so much better on concept versions, then they are released with boring headlights. . Same goes for wheels, always hot on the concept, then small n boring on the production model
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