Although it's unassuming in appearance, the Suzuki Alto concept is actually the bigger deal of Suzuki's two world premieres at the 2009 Tokyo Auto Show. The Alto nameplate turns 30 this year, and in addition to its presence as four-seat kei car in Japan, Maruti builds a version of the car for the Indian market.

Suzuki calls the show car a concept, but says it's the basis for the next-generation Alto. And inside and out, this car looks ready for production. This four-passenger hatchback is 133.7 inches long and rides on a 94.4-inch wheelbase. Under the hood, there's a 658cc inline three-cylinder (a typical kei car-size engine) and it's paired with a continuously variable transmission (CVT). This car is front-wheel-drive, but Suzuki plans to offer some form of four-wheel drive.

This latest Suzuki Alto will appear next to the original 1979 Suzuki Alto hatchback in Suzuki's booth at Tokyo.

More photos after the jump.

If there's a Suzuki to covet, it's the Suzuki Swift hatchback, which has attained a reputation as a poor man's Mini Cooper in Europe and Japan. Suzuki will show a plug-in hybrid version of the Swift at the 2009 Tokyo Auto Show.

The most interesting thing we know about this concept car is the packaging of its lithium-ion batteries — right down the middle of the car in the center console. This could potentially make it doable to have a pair of rear seats in the car, though that's not clear from the photos.

As the plug-in Swift is a series hybrid, there's a 658cc gasoline engine on-board to power the front-drive electric motor when the batteries run low on charge and you're not near a suitable electrical outlet. The engine apparently has a generating capacity of 40 kilowatts (54 hp). The front-drive electric motor has an output of 74 hp, according to Suzuki.

More photos after the jump.

Like we've said, Asian buyers love vans. Scheduled to debut in Tokyo, the Mitsubishi i MiEV Cargo is based on the i car, the tiny but neatly packaged, rear-drive, rear-engine, 4-passenger car that Mitsubishi offers in the kei class. The i MiEV is the electric version of the i car, which we've driven. It's already in production in Japan, and Mitsubishi announced at this year's New York Auto Show that it plans to bring it to the U.S. as well. (We'll have to move and see on that one.)

So the i MiEV Cargo is the cargo van version of the i MiEV evidently aimed at contractors with a green conscience. Or, perhaps, contractors wanting a tax break. It's the same intent (only smaller) as the electric Transit Connect that Ford is preparing, and claimed range is similar: 100 miles.

We rather like the camper-conversion-like appearance of the i MiEV Cargo, and by Mitsubishi's measurements, it offers over 60 cubic feet of cargo space — quite a lot for a van that's only 134 inches long and 58 inches wide and laden with lithium-ion batteries. For perspective, the i MiEV Cargo has the same wheelbase as a U.S.-spec Nissan Cube but is about 20 inches shorter and 9 inches narrower.

The i MiEV Cargo's rear-drive electric motor is good for a claimed 63 horsepower and 133 pound-feet of torque.

More photos after the jump.

First Drive: 2010 Mitsubishi i MiEV