That header might sound like the opening line to a petrolhead’s joke but unfortunately there’s no punchline here because Toyota’s Akio Toyoda is a proper petrolhead and in typical Japanese chivalry, had nothing but praise after taking a seat in the Nissan Z; a prime competitor to his very own Toyota GR86.

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Heads of carmakers using motor shows to get a feel of the competitors’ products isn’t new. However, being one of the last of a rare breed of automaker scions; ones that are actual petrolheads, Toyoda’s comments would’ve made for some extremely interesting aural fodder.

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With the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon event just concluding in mid-January 2022, many automakers went the extra mile in presenting high-performance cars, concept cars and special editions as it was the country’s first motor show in two years.

Toyota went full throttle by bringing out a bunch of interesting vehicles and concepts; chief amongst which include the GR GT3 concept car, a high-performance version of the GRMN Yaris race car and a customised version of the electric bZ4X GR Sport SUV.

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After launching Toyota’s booth, Toyoda made his way to the neighbouring Nissan booth to check out the competition. He was just in time to catch Nissan’s CEO; Makoto Yuchida’s promising statement that “The high-performance car market is very competitive and we will do our best and we will not give up,” during a press conference.

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Toyoda couldn’t help but praise the rival camp that it was doing the right thing in continuing to sell sports cars as well.

“I greatly admire Nissan for introducing a new generation of rear-wheel drive sports cars in this era because Nissan has a very valuable sports car like the Fairlady Z,” said Toyoda.

He then took the Z for a spin with Nissan Chief Engineer Hiroshi Tamura riding shotgun to explain the different features of what many proclaim to be one of the last, pure sports cars on sale today.

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After the short spin, Toyoda had nothing but praise for the Z, “I’m not going to give up on the Nissan Z anyway,” he respectfully acknowledged.

Unlike the direct comparisons and flurry of salvos fired between continental or western carmakers at their competitors, the Japanese auto industry prefers to compete with close camaraderie in an atmosphere of “friendly competitors.”

It’s this mutual respect that has been the foundation of Japan’s auto industry, keeping it extremely stable and serving as a solid platform to continues progressing.