Toyota Camatte a car for kids to drive

But this little odd concept is designed to get young kids into cars along with their parents. To that end, Toyota says it could carry three people -- essentially two adults and a child.

The Toyota Camatte Concept was revealed at the 2012 International Tokyo Toy Show overnight with features the Japanese carmaker touts as being particularly kid-friendly. 

The Camatte's main party trick is the ability to swap out the body panels, snapping in others in a different colour or style as the mood takes you, or perhaps to provide fun for the whole family when there's nothing on television.  But the more serious job it's been given is to spark an early interest in driving -- in a world where young people are increasingly bypassing the car.

With the ability to communicate across a host of social media networks, coupled with growing economic and unemployment pressure in many countries, young people are bypassing not only the car but even the ritual of learning to drive.  This car aims to perform the same job once ascribecd to lolly cigarettes: get them young and they will continue the habit.

However Toyota says the simple body structure and components are designed to give the whole family "the chance to become more familiar with the workings of motor vehicles".

Seating is arranged in a one-plus-two triangular layout the carmaker says will aid communication between child up front and parents in the back.

And the car also features pedals, so the child can "develop driving skills while a parent takes care of important tasks like steering and braking". There are no details about the drivetrain, but the video shows what could likely be a battery pack as the car is dismantled and reconfigured. The parent in the right-hand side seat can also take control of the steering wheel and brakes while the car is under way.

The Camette is being displayed in two versions, the Camette ‘Sora’, and Camette ‘Daichi’. There are no production plans at the moment. However don't completely dismiss the idea of seeing something similar reach the market.

Just as in many other countries, the leaner-licence aged youth in Japan are turning away from cars. And that's a concern for Japanese carmakers who know that if they don't get 'em young, they might not get 'em at all.