AutoRAI 2001: the concept cars

Lancia is another classic marque struggling with its identity. Unlike Jaguar they don't seem to have found the right direction yet. What made Lancias great? It was the combination of advanced technology with appealing avant-garde design, offered in a wide range of cars. After Lancia was submerged in the Fiat concern after a lot of quality problems in the 1970s it was supposed to become Fiat's luxury brand. But somehow this proved to be very difficult to achieve, so now the Lancia brand image still lacks luster.
For some reason the Lancia Nea concept seems to express this hazy image. It's a bulbous car which is undoubtedly very modern but also non-descript. It just don't catches your imagination.

Lancia calls the Nea the "tripmate car"; a compact vehicle which acts as a traveling companion by being interactive and in communication with the rest of the world by Internet and WAP technology. It's filled to the brim with computers which respond to the drivers voice, which will take control to avoid accidents and which will help you keep your lane. Of course about all controls are fly-by-wire operated and it's fitted with cameras on all sides to prevent dead angles. A very neat trick is provided by the glass surfaces of the car: they're blacked-out completely when the driver isn't in the car, but as soon as he or she (carrying a SmartCard key) nears the car they'll clear!
As Lancia puts it: "using sophisticated technology for a single purpose: to ensure maximum on-board well-being and the satisfaction of a relaxed drive". The Nea is a working prototype and can show all its features in action and surely we'll see some of the high-tech devices shown in this car in production in the near future. This car is extremely innovative, but why does it look so boring?

Mitsubishi has combined aspects of a Multi Purpose Vehicle, a Sports Utility Vehicle and an all terrain vehicle into one concept car and called it the SUW Active. SUW is short for Smart Utility Wagon and according to its designers it is a glimpse into the future of cars.
The car has both the high placed seating arrangement and the all wheel drive technology common to terrain vehicles, but is more compact and practical. Below the cargo floor is a special space which will hold a collapsible bike, so you can even get around in congested city areas. Its special wheel rims allow you to continue to drive with a puncture up to 80 km at a maximum of 90 kph.
The SUW Active is powered by a special 4-cylinder 2-liter GDi engine that produces 250 hp and 343 Nm torque which is distributed by Mitsubishi's Invecs II automatic transmission. It won't go into production, although similar designs like the Volvo V70 XC and the Audi Allroad Quattro already have. Seems a bit odd, presenting a trendy design and showing it off but to not follow it through...

This is not the case with the Nissan Fusion, because this concept shows the lines of the next Nissan Primera. The Fusion was presented at the 2000 Paris Auto Show and shows styling features reminiscent of designs of Nissan owner Renault. Nissan's design team was set to work with the assignment to "create a car with an innovative style which adds strong emotional involvement to the traditional technical excellence of Nissan's products..." Well, I don't know about Nissan's technical excellence (ever drove a Nissan Bluebird?) but the result is pleasing to the eye.
The Fusion features a number of high-tech aspects, like tiny cameras instead of door mirrors, invisible door handles which will pop out at a touch and front and rear lighting by fiber-optics. In the bright interior materials like aluminum, Plexiglas and soft leather are used, and like seems to be the trend: a console offering Internet access has been incorporated into the dashboard. Another novelty is the use of a Hypertronic CVT-type automatic transmission. The new Primera could do worse than looking like this car in my opinion.

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