Japanese carmakers Honda and Toyota Motor Corp unveiled their new line-up of future eco-friendly concept cars this week ahead of the Tokyo Motor Show, which will be held later this month.

Amid the devastating global slump in demand for cars, fuel-sipping hybrid cars have become a bright spot for the industry with Honda and Toyota seeing robust demand for their latest models.

The Honda SkyDeck, a six-seater hybrid model, is one of Honda's latest concept cars using its hybrid technology.

The SkyDeck is based on the Honda Insight, which went on sale earlier this year as the company's first attempt to challenge Toyota's dominance in the gasoline-electric hybrid segment.

[Shinya Uchiyama, Honda Designer]:
"We've removed the battery currently placed under the trunk of the Insight and replaced it in the center of the car, freeing up the rear space. We've also improved the car performance and balance by placing the heavy battery in the middle."

Along with its SkyDeck, Honda also unveiled its hybrid CR-Z sports car which will be the first hybrid sports car to enter production.

Although it is still officially a concept, sources say that the car is 95 percent production-ready as it nears its on-sale date of summer 2010.

Honda also showed off its new electric car concept called the EV-N which comes with a solar panel attached on the roof.

Meanwhile, Toyota showed-off its future cars with eco-friendly concepts.

Toyota's EV-II, a compact electric vehicle designed for short distances, is smaller than ultra-compact "iQ," which Toyota says is the world's smallest four-seater car at less than 9 feet 10 inches long.

Though it is still officially a concept, Toyota says its future car comes with the latest technology.

[Hideaki Homma, Toyota Communications Manager]:
"This concept car has no steering wheel, acceleration and brake pedals. Anyone can drive this car by using a joystick."

The EV-II is capable of running with a top-speed of over 60 miles an hour and is able to cover over 55 miles on a fully charged battery.

Homma said Toyota is planning to introduce a new EV by 2012.

Toyota also took the Prius Plug-in Hybrid concept car for a test run ahead of the Tokyo Motor Show.

The Prius Plug-in Hybrid, based on the third-generation Prius model, runs on lithium-ion batteries, which take about 1.5 to 3 hours to charge.

Toyota says the new hybrid concept car has better overall fuel efficiency than conventional gasoline-electric hybrids by increasing use of electricity and lowering consumption of fossil fuels.

Top automakers including Honda and Toyota will be showcasing all their concept cars at the Tokyo Motor Show, which will be held in Tokyo on October 21.