AS JAPANESE automakers pulled off the covers to show their sleek new cars at the Tokyo Motor Show this week - accompanied by popping champagne corks and glamorous models - industrial spies also got down to work.

Many foreign automakers and parts suppliers from China, South Korea and elsewhere in Asia are eager to get every detail of the industry leaders' new vehicles, which they hope to use for their own products, according to motor industry experts.

Although no Chinese automakers and parts suppliers had stands at the motor show, it is believed that foreign manufacturers have sent people to the event to take notes and pictures of the latest designs.

"Japanese automakers are also doing that in Frankfurt or in America," Credit Suisse Securities auto analyst Koji Endo said.

In one Toyota car sold only in the Japanese market that was on display, two men were seen occupying the front seats and taking numerous close-up pictures of the dashboard and interior.

At the Nissan stand, a trio of men were scrutinising switches around the steering wheel of a luxury sedan that made its Japan premiere.

While carmakers buy rivals' products to dissemble for scrutinising, many are still eager to get a preview of the underside of the vehicles on display, said a veteran motor journalist.

"The layout of suspension, pipes and other 'entrails' gives you important information. You can tell if a concept car is just a paper tiger or close to reality by examining its belly," he added.

Some manufacturers have strategies to keep the 'spies' away.

"Automakers have their staff for product explanation right next to vehicles that they want to protect and make sure they keep an eye out all the time," the journalist said on condition of anonymity.

Important vehicles are displayed in the most conspicuous but hard-to-touch places, often on glitzy stages or elevated areas. "It's the same at normal stores. Easy-to-steal gums and candies are near the cashier," he said.

Shiny floors also help reflect camera flashes, making it hard to take detailed pictures of a car's belly, but that does not stop the most daring ones. They will peel off trunk fittings to see how the body is built underneath, take away parts or even scrape off new types of paints, according to the journalist.

Auto industry people admit that it is exactly what Japanese automakers were doing in the 1960s.

"Copying is the best way to catch up," said Mr Kazuhito Sasaki, senior auto analyst at the Tokai Tokyo Research Centre.

Japanese automakers are nervous about the day when China-made vehicles go on sale here, analysts said.

"Now the Chinese makers have alliances with key global automakers, so they are obtaining some knowledge and intelligence to manufacture vehicles," said Mr Hirofumi Yokoi, an auto analyst with CSM Worldwide.

"When the time comes, it may be very challenging for Japanese automakers, especially in the mini-car segment. But it will not happen soon."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE