Glazing at Tokyo Motor Show ’95

Automotive glass Glazing at Tokyo Motor Show ’95 The principle trends of Japanese auto manufacturers for colour, aerodynamic shape, safety, driver visibility and innovations designed in collaboration with glass manufacturers are the focus of this article. The author has made comparisons with European trends and points out differences which lead to competitive solutions. Giovanni Manfrè* MG CONSULT general view of the Tokyo Mo- tor Show ’95, held 25 October to 11 November, confirmed that Fig. 1 JapaneseA auto makers have shifted interest from Mitsubishi’s luxury cars to sporty utility vehicles, minivans “Gaus” on and station wagons. “Down-to-earth” models re- show in Tokyo flected the impact of the decrease in Japanese auto production, and that Japanese auto manufacturers are now following western glazing designs to increase market potential of new vehicles. Based on the shapes and colours seen at the show, it was evident that Japanese auto makers were projecting a “touch of happiness” image. Consequently, glass manufacturers will benefit 92 Glass-Technology International 3/1996 from the new trend of auto makers for modular blind spots, anti-glare, micro camera applica- car glazing, transparent pavilions, flushing and tion, the mirror as a monitor for new display wrapping aerodynamic shapes, and colours on signals, the mirror as an extensive depth dis- Fig. 2 windows. Longer side play, water-repellent, and anti-reflective surfac- windows, es; Cooperation between auto and new mirror - transparent plastics: these are currently used in position, projector lenses and demonstrate that with ease glass manufacturers front volets of shaping, the face of any vehicle can be An analysis of the show leads to the conclusion on Toyota’s changed. that collaboration between Japanese auto manu- FLV Japanese auto industry ’94-’95 It is useful to consider the state of the Japanese auto industry in 1994 to understand the types of vehicles displayed at the Tokyo Motor Show ’95. In 1994, the Japanese auto industry saw ap- proximately 300,000 imported autos, or an 8 per cent increase, on its market, and a 6 per cent decrease in the total domestic production. This production decrease resulted from an 11 per cent reduction of Japanese auto exports. facturers and glass producers was efficient, in that The main themes of Tokyo ’95 focus was placed on the following areas: From an analysis of the show in Japan, three - the relationship between aerodynamic shape main points emerge: and safety through improved vision: the hori- 1) For the first time in 15 years, little or no inno- zontal line of the side windows has been em- Fig. 3 vation was made to automotive materials at the phasised, readapting the mirror position to im- Lateral Tokyo Motor Show. No new ceramics, metals, prove visibility by eliminating blind spots; the glazing on plastics, composites, fibres, shape memory al- evolution of auto design has brought additional Nissan’s loy, electrorheological fluids were seen. Alu- front side windows (volets) or the bending CQ-X minium (squeeze casting and hydroforming ex- down of the front side windows, wider and complex windscreens and backlights, wrapping glass on the roof and even transparent pavilions; - colour coordination: refined and more emotion- conscious technology has lead to the develop- ment of two fundamental colours; green and bronze, with differing tones and brightness; - glazing innovation: glassmakers' global solutions include head-up display (HUD), switchable, anti-reflective, sun visor, bilayer, solar cell, electrically heatable; while competitive solutions include solar control, privacy, UV blockage, water repellent, multi-antenna and new as- sembly concepts; - mirror evolution: particular attention paid to the positioning of external mirrors to decrease 93 Glass-Technology International 3/1996 trusion), glass and mirrors, however, showed The relationship between shape, colour and some innovative changes. safety systems and glazing performance will be 2) Electronics, ecology, new engines for better discussed below in more depth, and may be com- performance and fuel-reduction, information pared with my previous article on the Frankfurt systems, alternative energy supply vehicles, Motor Show ’95 in issue number 1-1996 of safety and comfort devices all appeared to have Glass-Technology International. reached a standstill in terms of innovation. Safety systems appeared confined to air bags, Shapes and fuel-reduction was discussed only in Mit- Transparent pavilion subishi’s literature. The trend for transparent pavilion, fixed or 3) As at the Frankfurt Motor Show ’95, real and Fig. 4 moving, was less evident in sports cars at this noticeable innovations in shapes and colours, The movable show compared to the Frankfurt Motor Show. especially in sport utility cars, minivans and roof on However, Mazda and Nissan created sports cars family cars, were evident. Japanese designers Suzuki’s with transparent roofs, already for sale on the distinguished themselves in these specific areas small car and also in that of glass safety technology, however. Shapes - Aerodynamics (boundary layer control), driving comfort to ensure maximum visibility for the driver, optimal seat positioning, regard- less of a person’s size, and ambient conditions were all taken into consideration in shape design. Emphasis was placed on improving aerodynamics while ensuring maximum forward and backward vision. Colours - The colours were coordinated with shape, glazing and interior materials (Toyota, Nis- market, while Mitsubishi and Toyota showed their san, Mazda) and by emotion-conscious technolo- minivans, and Suzuki, its small car (Figure 4). gy well applied in Japan regarding colours, di- Flushing and wrapping mensions and shape. The aerodynamic effect of flushing and wrap- Glass safety - Glass manufacturers were more ping was clearly the focus of Japanese auto mak- involved in passive and active safety with multi- ers, especially coordinating wrapping glazing; function glass having features and characteristics front-rear-side with the roof, and flushing glazing such as: with the entire car body. • solar control; Collaboration among designers, auto manufac- • antenna; turers and glassmakers and safety vision special- • UV blockage; ists was also evident. There were noticeable re- • holographic system for head-up display; sults in external aerodynamic smoothing, shape • water-repellent; complexity and the improvement of forward, • anti-reflective; backward and side vision. Driver seat position ap- • switchable; peared to have been given more investigation to • sun visors; harmonise the relationship between aerodynamics • bilayer; and vision. • heatable. The most evident and satisfactory result was In summary, the current trend of improving the reduction of the vertical height of side win- driver visibility, colours, mirrors and glazing re- dows together with the increase in horizontal side flected the attempts to stimulate customers by a length, particularly in the front. As a matter of “touch of happiness”. 94 Glass-Technology International 3/1996 tention paid to colour coordination, with the already common “dark tail” glass on the Subaru station wagon, Toyota family car, Mitsubishi mini- van and smaller cars like the Honda SM-X and Isuzu Deseo coordinated or not coordinated ac- cording to personalisation parameters. These “dark tails” come in green and bronze and reduce visible transmission by 35%. Passive and active glass safety Japan’s large glass manufacturers, Asahi Glass, Nippon Sheet Glass (NSG) and Central Glass, as well as Saint-Gobain, presented innovations in passive and active glass for vehicle glazing. Asahi Glass presented a windscreen with a hologram film specially laminated for the holo- fact, to improve or maintain forward (direct) and Fig. 5 graphic HUD system, while Nippon Sheet pre- backward (mirror) vision, the front side window The volet on sented products such as solar control and privacy must be curved downwards or be prolonged with the Toyota glass, and switchable light control windows using a supplementary volet. Consequently, the shape Prius PDLC flexible film technology and the “Window and dimensions of the windscreen and backlights Sun Visor”, which reduces the heat on the head of may be relatively more complex and wider; the the rear passenger using coating technology. position, dimensions and shape of the rear mirror Central Glass, on the other hand, presented an must also be chosen to increase the dead angle in exclusive product with low reflective glass, both directions, horizontally (wider) and vertical- achieved by a particular sol-gel coating technolo- ly (towards the ground or road). gy. Toyota’s Ipsum, Prius, FLV, Mogue were inno- Moreover, Asahi Glass, in its brochure distrib- vative as they demonstrated the relationship be- uted at the show, characterised its products as fol- tween new glazing design and vision, with Nissan lows: and Mazda also following the same trends. - bilayer; - holographic centre high mounted stop lamp; Colours - solar cell sunroof; As at the Frankfurt Motor Show, glazing col- - electrically heated windshield. ours represented one of the parameters of the Bilayer is an application used for advanced “touch of happiness” factor. There was close at- safety vehicles. It was exhibited as a safety fea- ture in the Toyota Ipsum and Lexus as a side win- Fig. 6 dow to better protect the driver, in the event of Dark glass impact, along with the air bag system, and also in on the Honda S-MX the windshield to increase safety from pedestrian impact. It is worth mentioning that St. Gobain also presented bilayer as one of its products at its stand. The principal competitive, market-oriented glass products presented at the Tokyo Motor Show were UV-blocking glass, privacy glass, water-repellent glass, multi-antenna glass and solar control glass. 95 Glass-Technology International 3/1996 Fig. 7 Sol-gel coated privacy glass from Central UV blocking glass Central Glass presented a glass that blocks ul- tra-violet rays which has a sol-gel coating that Fig. 8 functions efficiently, even in highly transparent Printed clear glass.

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