One way of staving off the inevitable January blues, in the automotive world at least, is to look forward to the wild creations that get wheeled out every year at the Tokyo Auto Salon. Unlike the biennial Japan Mobility Show, which is more of a traditional motor show, the Auto Salon places more of an emphasis on Japan’s massive aftermarket scene. Think of it as a sort of Japanese SEMA.
That said, it’s still a popular place for Japan’s big manufacturers to roll out some exciting creations, showcasing both factory models and the work of their in-house tuning firms. With the 2025 edition taking place between 10 and 12 January, information’s starting to trickle out on what we can expect to see. Here’s everything we know so far.
Honda
Honda Prelude concept
Honda’s confirmed that a prototype of the new Prelude will be on display, likely giving us a firmer idea of what the final production car will look like (although we’re expecting it to be very similar to the concept we’ve already seen). Set to be sold in Europe and the US as well as Japan, the new coupe will feature a hybrid powertrain and a drive mode that simulates a proper gearbox.
It’s also bringing along something called the Civic Type R Racing Black Package. We don’t have any more info on this yet, but the name suggests plenty of black accents as well as hopefully some track-oriented performance tweaks.
A rendering of the Honda stand also hints at the brand’s renewed F1 efforts getting some attention.
Nissan
R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R EV
We’re not sure Nissan will be revealing anything brand new, but there’ll still likely be plenty of eyes on its stand. Much of that’ll be down to the controversial presence of an electric-swapped R32 Skyline GT-R. It’ll also be showing off the North American-spec version of the 2025 Z, complete with its nostalgic new Bayside Blue colour choice.
We’re also promised a talk celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Nismo performance division, so hopefully, Nissan will bring out some rather special stuff from its heritage collection.
Toyota
Toyota Celica, fifth generation
Toyota hasn’t confirmed anything yet, but Japanese publication Best Car has suggested multiple times that we could finally see the new Celica at Tokyo Auto Salon, or at least a concept previewing it. Rumours of the compact coupe’s return have been swirling for a while now and were recently effectively confirmed by a Toyota exec.
Given Toyota’s current dedication to performance cars, we’d expect it to have some other cool stuff lined up, too.
