Mitsubishi FUSO Concept

Mitsubishi showed a radical concept truck at the recent Tokyo Motor Show, exhibited as a concept known simply as FUSO, which is a bit confusing given that the company's entire truck brand, which began all the way back in 1932, is also named FUSO. The Fuso was one of a number of exhibits designed to promote and focus upon the future of the company and is described by Mitsubishi as "a concept truck that proposes an entirely new style of commercial transport." Given the company's well publicised quality problems, we suspect the focus has been moved to future new products, replenishment of the entire range as quickly as possible, and things have shifted quickly in recent months, even in the land of the shortest concept-to-showroom times in the industry.

The Fuso represents "next-generation safety, comfort and ecological responsibility" and embodies the Fuso company's "new Fuso brand identity."

Fuso offers "cost-effectiveness, advanced technologies and the performance expected of a commercial vehicle" and these have been reflected in the new styling.

Mitsubishi Fuso is currently making every effort to identify and address every past quality problem and the stand took a pro-active approach, with a prominent area related to these past quality issues. The company's efforts to address the quality issues and reform the corporate culture were described in panels around the stand.

In Fuso's only written statement on the concept vehicle, it stated, "the Fuso Concept proposes nothing less than to revolutionize the style of transportation."

The vehicle featured:

A crushable front bumper that reduces accidental collision damage A new type of tyre dubbed the "Super single tire" that reduces both tyre weight and rolling resistance thereby improving fuel economy. All-wheel disc brakes and ABS

Most significantly, the Concept is a comprehensive model of active safety. It employs illuminated control headlamps to improve night visibility when the truck is turning and a pedestrian monitoring system to help prevent serious accidents. In addition, there are a number of cameras used around the vehicle that display colour video on the dashboard for reversing, rear-view etc.