Mon, Oct 29, 2001 page17

• Automakers rely on sex appeal

  EYE CANDY Japanese companies eager to boost sales are turning to provocatively dressed models. But women's groups say automakers need to grow up

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  Yoshio Watanabe has a theory why the Tokyo Motor Show is the most visited car show in the world. It's the female models -- not the cars.

  "Most guys just come here for the girls," said Watanabe, an auto analyst who visits shows in Europe and US for a living.

  "Tokyo is the best for girls," he said, standing next to a Toyota Motor Corp stage featuring a racing car and four models.

  

  Models display German automaker Audi's concept vehicle, the "A4 Cabriolet."

  PHOTO: AFP

  The 37 carmakers showcasing their wares battle for attention, with Japanese companies particularly eager to generate new demand as the economy slows. While the use of women to draw more visitors is hardly unique to Tokyo, it's no secret in the industry that exhibitors here require the models to dress more provocatively than at major car events elsewhere.

  "You couldn't get the women on other continents to wear this kind of stuff, unless they were working at Hooters," said Michael Delahanty, a competition analyst at DaimlerChrysler AG, referring to a US sports bar chain, known for its scantily clad waitresses.

  Japanese women's groups aren't impressed.

  

  A model stands by a concept SUV.

  PHOTO: AFP

  "The girls are being used as sex products," said Yoshiko Suzuki, a member of the Japan Women's Council, a women rights lobby group. "Women in Japan have to change and the companies, too."

  The only change so far, though, is automakers finding new ways to use women to stir interest in their products.

  At the Honda Motor Co corner, models dressed in blue and red miniskirts hover on a sliding trapeze over an audience mostly of men. At the end of their ride, the women unbuckle, and join the chorus chanting Honda's mantra: "Fun to the Max!"

  In the next hall, Toyota, Japan's biggest automaker, has a legion of women clad in white and beige leather mini-skirts to lure visitors. Their bare shoulders and arms are covered in glitter and they smile and wave at the men taking their pictures. Car parts makers vie to present models even more eye-catching than the carmakers. The Panasonic Navigation Systems women mimic characters out of Japanese Manga comic books. Glitter covers their faces beneath pink and lime wigs, topping off an outfit of metallic silver skirts and boots.

  "Japanese exhibitors want to attract the general public, so they need sexually appealing ladies," said Toyokazu Ishida, spokesman for the Japan Motor Industrial Federation, which organizes the show. "Sex sells."

  European rivals, the most successful among importers, toe a more conservative line.

  Volkswagen AG typified the more staid look shared by all automakers at last month's Frankfurt auto show.

  Its models, all Westerners, wear knee-length white skirts, thick-soled tennis shoes and white polyester business jackets.

  At the Detroit auto show, the women at exhibits refrain from baring skin and don't dance. Favored attire is pastel-colored pants suits and the models explain in detail new engines, design features and the electronics under the hoods. Few copy their Japanese counterparts who constantly pose for pictures.

  "In Detroit, women have a spokesperson's role," said Daimler-Chrysler's Delahanty, whose job takes him to all the major car shows.

  "Here, they're more for entertainment."

  Still, Porsche AG opted for a racier display matching the host country's automakers, with women clad in white leather halter tops, with bare midriffs and skin-tight red leather pants.

  Some of the models say they enjoy the attention they get at the event, although it doesn't pay well.

  Sanei Shobo, a publisher, will devote an edition of its quarterly, Girl's Paradise, to the showgirls next month.

  "It's fun," said Kumiko Yamazaki, 23, at the stand of Stanley Electric Co, a maker of headlights. "This is the biggest public event in Japan and the costumes are really cute."

  She makes about ?10,000 (US$82) for working from 9am to 6pm, and hopes the event will lead to more modeling work.
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