Toyota unveils high-tech concept car ahead of show

Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda poses for photographers with the Fun-Vii concept vehicle and the motorized stand-up-and-ride Winglet in Tokyo Monday, Nov. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

TOKYO — Toyota President Akio Toyoda unveiled a futuristic concept car resembling a giant iPhone to demonstrate how Japan’s top automaker is trying to take the lead in technology at the upcoming Tokyo auto show.

Toyota Motor Corp. will also be showing an electric vehicle, set for launch next year, and a tiny version of the Prius gas-electric hybrid at the Tokyo Motor Show, which opens to the public this weekend.

But Toyoda chose to focus on the experimental Fun-Vii, which he called “a smartphone on four wheels.”

The car works like a personal computer and allows drivers to connect with dealers and others with a tap of a touch-panel door.