Nissan Provides Glimpse Into Its Offering For Upcoming Tokyo Motor Show

Nissan is offering a glimpse into its main concept for next week’s Tokyo Motor Show, a car that’s rumored by some to preview the next generation of the electric Nissan Leaf.

The Japanese automaker has issued a single image, showing what appears to be a hatchback that features the company’s latest corporate grille treatment and gets a distinctive kink around its C-pillar.

The brief press release describes the vehicle as “Nissan’s future vision of car intelligence and electrification,” supporting the speculation the concept will highlight autonomous technology and the latest generation of batteries and electric motors.

Some auto industry insiders are also suggesting that the car’s styling will point to the next generation of Leaf, which is due by 2017. Nissan is considering expanding the Leaf sub-brand to include additional models and body styles, according to the automaker’s executive vice president, Trevor Mann, but the core of the range is still expected to be a five-door hatchback.

Some rumors suggest the next Leaf will retain the current generation’s hatchback configuration, but with a more conventional styling for the front end. It may be toned down significantly from the Tokyo-bound concept, however, the V-motion grille and boomerang headlights are likely to proceed to production, with a floating roof also expected to be part of the design.

When it comes to autonomous cars, Nissan certainly isn’t the company getting the most attention. However, as the automaker first announced back in 2013, it isn’t sitting idly by as Google and others develop self-driving vehicles. In fact, Nissan Europe’s vice president of communications sent out a tweet October 13 of this year to reaffirm the promise that the company made in 2013 to have autonomous cars on the road by 2020.