According to the smart concept car presentation:
A concept is an abstract idea or notion and a concept car is exactly that, a theoretical prototypical perception. Concept cars are by design to analysis new designs, ideas and new shapes for the automobile. Concept cars always attract attention to themselves as well as their manufacturers. Concept cars are utilized to manufacture interests. These cars offer us a visual aid to the automotive future and it’s potential evolution. The innovative draft, unconventional options, and ground-breaking ideas allow the automobile to improve and encourage competition among the every expanding number of car manufactures. Speculation and rumors always surround the concept car theme. While concept vehicles are designed to inspire awe, others are just for fun. Concept cars come in different stages of presentation or completion.
Why do I blog this? looking at the new Citroën C-Métisse concept car, I was thinking about the roles of concept-car and then I ran across this definition by Smart; which I found interesting because it's given from the viewpoint of the company.
What I find curious here is that the car industry calls this "concept car" and do not sell it; it's only meant to show some new directions and to have an emulation between car-makers. Whereas the tech industry releases beta or early prototypes they sell as product but it often fails. There seems to be a very different stance between tech industries releasing gadgets and software and the car industry which release "concept products".
What's next? a beta car?
