Extension of Show Days
for the 39th Tokyo Motor Show for Passenger Cars & Motorcycles 2005
and Change in Show Format
beginning with the 40th Tokyo Motor Show 2007

JNL-2004-27
May 20, 2004

The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc. (JAMA) [Mr Itaru KOEDA, Chairman] has decided to extend the duration of the Tokyo Motor Show in 2005 and to introduce a new format for the show in and after 2007.

1. Extension of Show Days
for the 39th Tokyo Motor Show for Passenger Cars & Motorcycles 2005

JAMA will extend the duration of the 39th Tokyo Motor Show 2005 by four days, from the current 13 days to 17 days. As a result, the show will span three weekends and a holiday, thereby adding two full non-weekdays to the show's time frame. This will help spread the number of visitors to the show over the three weekends, which should alleviate congestion at the show site. With the highest turnout on average per day among the world's five leading motor shows, the Tokyo Motor Show on peak days distinguishes itself from its Frankfurt, Geneva, Paris, and Detroit counterparts by its congestion. JAMA has therefore decided to extend the show's duration in an effort to provide visitors with a safer and more comfortable environment. The show's venue at Makuhari Messe (Nippon Convention Center), Chiba, will remain unchanged.

2. Change in Show Format

Beginning with the 40th Tokyo Motor Show in autumn 2007, JAMA will change the show's format to a "new integrated exhibition" that includes passenger cars, motorcycles, commercial vehicles, commercial vehicle bodies, and related auto parts. No show will be held in 2006, between the 39th Tokyo Motor Show for Passenger Cars & Motorcycles in 2005 and the new-format Tokyo Motor Show in 2007. After 2007, the Tokyo Motor Show will be held once every two years.

The Tokyo Motor Show was divided into two separate shows-one show for passenger cars & motorcycles and another show for commercial vehicles-starting with the 33rd Tokyo Motor Show in 1999. Since then, the passenger car & motorcycle show has alternated in odd years with the commercial vehicle show in even years.

With auto manufacturers focusing on R&D and the marketing of innovative new products-distinguished by a "crossing-over" between passenger cars and commercial vehicles-in order to respond to pressing challenges in the areas of safety, environmental protection, globalization, and the adoption of vehicle features based on universal design concepts, JAMA has concluded that the "new integrated exhibition" format will provide visitors with far more opportunities to acquaint themselves with these trends taking place within the industry and effectively meet their diverse requirements.

Moreover, the fact that the revamped Tokyo Motor Show will, from 2007 onward, be held once every two years will contribute to exhibitors' global efforts to reduce costs.

JAMA is determined that in the years ahead, the Tokyo Motor Show will retain its top-level quality as one of the world's leading automobile expos. JAMA will draw on experience accumulated throughout the show's 50-year history both to find the best possible solutions to the challenges involved in its organization (such as optimal use of exhibition space) and to continuously upgrade its content, so that exhibitors' needs can be successfully met and visitors can be assured of a thoroughly enjoyable, "hands-on" interactive Tokyo Motor Show experience.