The Nissan Cube

The advertising slogan “Small is beautiful” was made famous in America in the 60s when it was used to promote the Volkswagen Beetle.

Unfortunately for the “Big Three” US car makers – General Motors, Ford and Chrysler – the message didn’t sink in. They continued to produce oversized gas-guzzlers and that’s ultimately why they have been forced to go cap in hand to the government for a £9.4bn bailout.

The Japanese, on the other hand, have long understood “small” and how to make the most of it. And a new exhibition at the Science museum called Japan Car: Designs for the Crowded Globe reveals their plans for the future.

The first thing you’ll see is an artistic display of bonsai trees – those beautifully formed miniature trees which grow in pots.

The ­Science Museum’s Curator of Technology, Andrew ­Nahum, says: “The bonsai trees ­emphasise the fact that the 14 vehicles on display are likewise small but highly condensed – the point being that choosing a small car doesn’t mean settling for less.”

Of course small cars are not all about size. In an attempt to combat severe ­domestic air pollution problems, the Japanese are champions of new green technologies, and the concept cars and cutting-edge new models on display here include ­hybrids, electric and fuel cell cars – all ­designed to cut emissions and counteract global warming.

The exhibition also predicts that the future of urban transport will not be just a matter of individual vehicles and their drivers, going where they wish and creating traffic jams. Instead, a central computerised system will link up all road users to manage traffic flow – a sort of GPS Big Brother which keeps things moving smoothly.

The show includes models from most of the major manufacturers. The aptly-named Nissan Cube makes a virtue of its boxiness, with its ­designers stating proudly that “the DNA of the vehicle goes back to the ox cart, a mode of transport in ­ancient Japan”.

"The DNA of the vehicle goes back to the ox cart"

Not something most car makers would boast about, but the Japanese are different. This is not a boy ­racer’s car but a “moving ­living room” with loads of ­interior space packed into a vehicle with a modest carbon footprint.

The Toyota iQ is billed as “the world’s smallest sophisticated car for four”. At less than 3m long it is impressively short (a Ford Focus is 4.5m), but it does help if the four are smallish Oriental passengers rather than ­Viking-sized Danes.

The Toyota is fuel efficient (CO2 emissions of 99g per km make it road tax ­exempt) and super-nimble, with a turning radius of only 3.9m (Ford Focus 5m). With nine airbags, it’s equipped for safety, too.

For more sporty types, the Daihatsu Copen is a tiny but chic convertible whose curved form was “inspired by the profile of a drop of water on a flat surface”.

To the Japanese mind, small, practical and economical should not mean ugly, and the Copen is aimed at the playful, but “very grown up” driver. All three are petrol cars. The iQ (from £8,672) and ­Copen (from £11,745) are on sale in the UK, and Nissan says the Cube is “coming soon”.

It’ll be a while before we see Nissan’s futuristic, bubble-shaped concept car, the Pivo2, on our streets. Described as a high-performance electric mini-car, you’ve never seen anything like it. The Pivo2 will be on display at the exhibition from February.

Andrew Nahum believes the exhibition offers a glimpse of the future of road transport in London. He says: “Japan’s crowded city streets are driving the design of new shapes, showing the need for compactness and a flexible use of space – as well as fun in visual design.

The pressures of London’s congested streets may push us even further, ­towards the Japanese concept of computer systems which manage roads as a giant web, shifting traffic to avoid blackspots as they occur. If this happens, it’s sure to be Tokyo that tries it first.”