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Jan 18
| James Bond getaway car gets new lease on life |
|  For a former James Bond car, it's a chance to live twice.
Japanese engineers put a new spin on an old classic car for a recent auto show, remodeling a Toyota 2000GT with solar panels and high-tech gadgets to make it 100 percent electric and solar-powered.
Heralded as Japan's first sports car when it came out in 1967, the vehicle was used in the James Bond movie "You Only Live Twice," released that same year, as a getaway car for the intrepid Bond, played by Sean Connery.
But the new eco-friendly version comes with a catch -- it takes nearly two weeks for the vehicle to power up completely. (Reuters  ) |
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Jan 16
| Honda to build NSX 'supercar' in Ohio |
|  With one announcement last week at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Honda surprised auto industry observers in at least two ways.
First, the automaker is resurrecting the rare-but-beloved Acura NSX "supercar." And second, the new NSX will be designed and built in Ohio, not Japan, where the model's previous iteration was built from 1990 to 2005.
Already, preliminary development work for the NSX has been handed off from Japan to Honda's Center of Research and Development in Raymond, Ohio, about 140 miles northeast of Dayton, a Honda spokesman said. (Channel NewsAsia ) |
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Jan 11
| Toyota Prius Japan top-selling car for third year |
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The Prius gas-electric hybrid was Japan's top-selling vehicle in 2011 for the third straight year, underlining how the ecological car has scored a big hit.
Sales of Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius totaled 252,528 vehicles in 2011, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Wednesday.
The Fit subcompact from Japanese rival Honda Motor Co., which also comes in hybrid models, was No. 2.
Government-backed incentives and tax breaks have lifted the sales of ecological models despite a sluggish Japanese auto market. (AP) |
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Jan 05
| Japanese automakers say goodbye to disaster-filled 2011 |
|  The big Japanese automakers are happy to see 2011 in their rear-view mirrors.
The Detroit auto companies posted a double-digit sales increase for the year, but the big Japanese brands -- especially Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. -- were hamstrung by a series of natural disasters.
First, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March hit, and then, later in the year, flooding closed parts suppliers in Thailand, disrupting their global auto manufacturing and leaving them with too few cars for the American market.
Toyota saw its sales fall 6.7% to 1.6 million vehicles last year. Its sales in December grew by just a few hundred vehicles to 178,131 compared with the same month a year earlier.
Honda's annual sales fell 6.8% to 1.1 vehicles. Its December sales fell 19% to 105,230 vehicles. (Los Angeles Times) |
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Dec 27
| Toyota releases Aqua compact hybrid in Japan |
|  Toyota Motor Corp. on Monday began selling in Japan the Aqua compact hybrid vehicle, which it claims has the world's best fuel economy.
The vehicle is equipped with a new 1.5-liter hybrid system and gets 35.4 kilometers per liter under a new testing method close to actual driving conditions, Toyota said.
The automaker has reduced the weight of the hybrid system by more than 40 kilograms compared to its Prius system, it said.
Priced from 1.69 million yen, Toyota said it aims to sell 12,000 of the vehicles per month within Japan, and eventually to begin selling it in approximately 50 other countries including the United States. (Mainichi ) |
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Dec 15
| How Long Can Japan's Niche Brands Survive? |
|  Isuzu clung to the U.S. market two to three years after the automotive press began predicting its departure. Although Isuzu relied on sport/utilities for most of the 2000s, and that segment took a big plunge just before the brand left North America in '09, it didn't exactly light the SUV world on fire even when the segment was popular.
The new automotive world order calls into question the continued viability of Japan's small, niche companies. Bigger companies have shed interest in smaller automakers, or have ended joint venture deals. The Japanese industry is not the juggernaut it was 10 or 20 years ago, and it's reasonable to question whether the country can support more than three brands, as in other mature markets.
Subaru, Mazda, Mitsubishi, and Suzuki are planning ever-smaller models. Compacts, or C-segment cars, have thinner profit margins generally than C/D- and D-segment midsize cars, and B-segment subcompacts have thinner margins still. (motortrend.com) |
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Dec 04
| Nissan Leaf electric wins Japan car of the year |
|  Japanese motor giant Nissan won Car of the Year Japan at the Tokyo Motor Show on Saturday for its Leaf electric model, its makers said, the first time an electric vehicle has picked up the award.
Electric cars with cutting-edge green technology and vehicles remote-controlled by smartphones have been a star feature at this year's show, which runs till December 11 and features 179 exhibitors from a dozen countries.
"Nissan is proud to announce that its 100 percent electric Leaf car has won the Japanese Car of the Year prize," Japan's second-largest automaker said in a statement.
The Nissan Leaf electric is a zero-emission vehicle fitted with rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Since its launch on the market at the end of last year, some 20,000 models have been sold, notably in Japan and in the US. (AFP ) |
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Dec 03
| Are cars losing their luster in Japan? |
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You wouldn't know it from the buzz ahead of this weekend's Tokyo Motor Show, but Japan has fallen out of love with cars.
The country's domestic auto sales have fallen in eight of the past 10 years. Demographics are part of the reason-the population is shrinking while more people are living in cities and riding public transit. Owners are also holding on to their rides longer: over the past decade, the average length of ownership has risen almost a year to 6.6 years because of more durable cars and slower wage growth, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers' Association.
Other obstacles to higher sales are rooted in policy and bureaucracy. (Wall Street Journal) |
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Dec 03
| Highlights of the Tokyo Motor Show 2011 |
|  It's been a tough year for Japanese automakers. The March earthquake and tsunami crippled production of cars and parts for months. And the soaring value of the yen is taking a bite out of profits on exports.
But Japan's automakers were determined to not let those factors overshadow its biennial auto show. Honda rolls out an electric roadster and maps out its powertrain plans for the future, Toyota and Subaru show their new sports coupes, Nissan gives the Juke a Nismo makeover, Mazda previews its next-generation sedan and Volkswagen launches a new design theme for its SUVs. (AutoWeek ) |
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Dec 02
| Toyota, BMW tie up on green technologies |
|  Toyota Motor Corp. and Germany's BMW said Thursday they are teaming up in the field of hybrid vehicle technologies, aiming to speed up development and lower the costs of producing "green" vehicles amid a stricter regulatory environment.
Under the agreement, the two carmakers will carry out joint research into next-generation lithium-ion battery technologies, among other projects, they told a joint news conference in Tokyo.
BMW will also supply 1.6-liter and 2.0-liter diesel engines to Toyota's unit in Europe starting in 2014, which will help the Japanese automaker expand its lineup of low-emission vehicles in the region. (Japan Times ) |
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Dec 01
| Honda planning to market hybrid Accord next year |
|  Honda Motor Co. plans to introduce a hybrid version of its Accord sedan next year, President Takanobu Ito said Wednesday.
"We are currently developing a hybrid engine system for midsize to large vehicles," Ito said in an interview at the Tokyo Motor Show.
Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it plans to introduce a plug-in version of the best-selling Prius in Japan at the end of January, with prices starting at ¥3.2 million. (Japan Times ) |
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Nov 30
| Motor show opens with car firms facing triple whammy |
|  The Tokyo Motor Show kicks off Saturday amid a variety of challenges facing the automobile industry, including intensifying global competition, the yen's historic surge and supply disruptions caused by natural disasters.
For Japanese automakers, emerging rivals in South Korea and other Asian countries have joined the ranks of long-standing competitors such as General Motors of the U.S. and Volkswagen AG of Germany.
The yen's record rise has also cut into repatriated profits and eroded Japanese makers' competitiveness overseas.
Experts agree that Hyundai Motor Co.'s growth stands out among Asian rivals.
Japan's No. 1, Toyota Motor Corp., produced more than 8 million units in 2010, but yielded to GM, which marked a rapid recovery from a collapse in 2009, as the biggest global automaker for the first time in four years. (Japan Times ) |
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Nov 28
| Toyota to exhibit '86' sports car at Tokyo Motor Show |
|  Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) will display a production prototype of the "86" compact rear-wheel-drive sports car, scheduled for launch in the spring of 2012, at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show 2011. The show, to be held at Tokyo Big Sight in Koto Ward, Tokyo, will be open to the public from November 30 through December 11*.
With the shared desire to provide the dream and joy of cars, TMC and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (owners of the Subaru-brand) worked together to develop the 86 as a unique rear-wheel-drive vehicle, with intuitive handling, that embodies the essence of driving enjoyment.
The 86 features the world's first horizontally opposed D-4S engine, created by combining Subaru's engine technology with Toyota's cutting-edge D-4S direct injection technology. The engine is installed front mid-ship to establish the world's only horizontally opposed engine and rear-wheel-drive package. As a result, the 86 offers fun driving at a level unprecedented in earlier sports cars. (New York Times ) |
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Nov 27
| Tokyo Motor Show looks to green cars to drive recovery |
|  Japan's auto industry has taken a triple hit from the global downturn, strong yen and a catastrophic quake, but is hoping the Tokyo Motor Show, starting Wednesday, can mark a fresh start.
With a reputation for environmental technologies, Japanese firms are looking to showcase green innovation to boost sales at home and abroad.
This year's motor show - aimed at showcasing products to buyers and promoting industry exchanges - will host 176 exhibitors from a dozen countries, compared with 129 exhibitors from 10 nations two years ago.
The venue for this year will be almost twice as large.
Several major foreign manufacturers who skipped last time are back, such as Germany's Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche; French carmakers Renault and Peugeot-Citroen; and Britain's Jaguar and Land Rover. (AsiaOne ) |
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Nov 17
| Japanese automakers face new challenges, Mazda CEO says |
|  Japanese automakers, not fully recovered from supply shortages in the wake of the spring's massive earthquake and tsunami, still have a "rough road ahead" of them, said Takashi Yamanouchi, president and chief executive of Mazda Motor Corp.
The strength of the yen against the U.S. dollar and the euro, as well as current flooding in Thailand, are the latest difficulties facing Japan's ailing auto industry, he said.
Yamanouchi opened the L.A. Auto Show on Wednesday with stories recalling the solidarity among Japanese, Americans and Europeans after the magnitude 8.9 quake rattled Japan in March. (Los Angeles Times) |
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Nov 16
| New Toyota hybrid 'most fuel-efficient' |
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Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday that its new hybrid vehicle, scheduled to be released late next month, will be the most fuel-efficient car in the world.
According to Toyota, the fuel efficiency of its Aqua subcompact hybrid car will be about 35 kilometers per liter of gasoline. The Toyota Prius can travel 32.6 kilometers per liter.
The Aqua will be exhibited at the Tokyo Motor Show, which begins Dec. 2. It is expected to cost about 1.6 million yen to 1.7 million yen.
Aqua's size and shape are based on Toyota's Vitz, a gasoline-powered subcompact sold in more than 70 countries. Toyota said it has succeeded in reducing the size and weight of the hybrid system, which controls the combination of a 1.5-liter engine and a high-powered motor. It will be marketed overseas as the Prius c. (Yomiuri) |
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Nov 12
| Suzuki goes wild and wacky at Tokyo show |
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For a brief moment, following Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami, there were fears this year's Tokyo Motor Show might not happen. It didn't help that even before the disaster most foreign manufacturers said they'd pull out of the event citing routinely weak import car sales.
The biennial even is back on the calendar, it turns out, and when it opens its doors, early next month, the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show will do what it is often best known for: showcase some of the wildest and wacky concept vehicles ever put on wheels - such as the new Suzuki Regina concept.
Though it clearly adopts some modern aerodynamic detailing, the compact Suzuki show car strikes the sort of retro-futuristic theme that has often fascinated designers preparing for the Tokyo Motor Show - and led to such distinctive designs as the old Nissan Figaro and snail-like S-Cargo. (MSNBC) |
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Nov 09
| Nissan shows off latest concept electric car for big-city commuters |
|  Nissan Motor Co. on Tuesday unveiled its latest concept electric car, the PIVO3, ahead of its display at the Tokyo Motor Show next month.
The automaker said the vehicle best suits commuters who drive on crowded roads in big cities.
The 2.8-meter-long compact car can make a U-turn in a very small space.
With an in-wheel motor on each wheel, the three-seater can almost turn on a dime, the automaker said.
(Japan Times ) |
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Nov 06
| New Prius gets 61 km per liter of gasoline |
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The new gas-electric hybrid Prius offered by Toyota Motor Corp. for sale in Japan in January has double the fuel efficiency of the current model, sources said.
The new plug-in hybrid model gets 61 kilometers to a liter of gasoline, compared with 32.6 km for the Prius now on the market.
By switching to selectable mode, the vehicle can travel up to 26.4 kilometers on a single charge. This is designed to make short-distance, in-town, driving convenient.
The greater mileage is due to the use of lithium-ion batteries, which are more energy-efficient than the nickel-hydrogen batteries used for the current Prius. (Asahi) |
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Nov 05
| Foreign carmakers attending Tokyo Motor Show double |
|  The number of foreign automakers that will attend next month's Tokyo Motor Show will rise back to 20 from only nine in the previous show in 2009, when the global economic slump was in full swing, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said Friday.
To lure more visitors, the biennial show running from Dec. 2 through 11 will also move to Tokyo for the first time in 24 years, and will remain open until 8 p.m. each day, two hours later than in the past. The show will be held at Big Sight in Koto Ward, instead of Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture. (Japan Times ) |
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Oct 27
| Mazda sets debut date for Takeri concept |
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Mazda has announced the forthcoming debut of a new concept which hints at the styling of the next Mazda 6 range.
The Mazda Takeri concept car will debut at the Tokyo Auto Salon in January, Mazda said, using the new Skyactiv environmental technology and Mazda's 'Kodo' design language. (New York Daily News ) |
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Oct 27
| Volkswagen keen to keep Suzuki tie-up |
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Volkswagen AG has decided to keep its current 19.9 percent equity stake in Suzuki Motor Corp. for the long term, and wants Suzuki to continue with the partnership, it has been learned.
Suzuki, which has decided to dissolve its partnership and cross-shareholding relationship with Volkswagen because of concerns that it would lose autonomy, has asked Volkswagen to unload its Suzuki shares. (Yomiuri) |
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Oct 18
| Japan launches assault on battery problems |
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The trouble with EVs is that they need batteries. Batteries are expensive and heavy, they deplete quickly and are prone to early death. Japanese carmakers and universities are assaulting the problems head-on. They have batteries that go twice as far and live twice as long. But there is a new problem.
Toyota, in cooperation with the Tokyo Institute of Technology and the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, developed a prototype battery that can be processed into sheet form. It makes for a lower cost battery that can store several times the amount of electricity in the same volume. (thetruthaboutcars) |
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Oct 17
| Gentlemen, start your engines, Toyota's hybrid 2012 |
|  Toyota has not been seen in high profile racing since the end of 2009, when it pulled the plug on Formula 1 racing. That year, the motor company booked a net loss of 436.9 billion yen ( $4.4 billion), which was its first annual net loss since 1950.
Toyota must sell cars, and the most efficient marketing tool is racing. The bottom line is that racing sells cars and green technology.
The Japanese giant has combined the two and announced its return to the most prestigious endurance race in the world, Le Mans 24 Hours race, with an earth friendly, hybrid race-car. (majirox news) |
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Oct 11
| Toyota looks at carmaking abroad as yen causes 'difficult time' |
|  Toyota Motor Corp., Asia's biggest carmaker, may expand production outside Japan as the yen's gains on currency markets reduce earnings.
"We are struggling," Chief Financial Officer Satoshi Ozawa said today in an interview at the automaker's factory in Ovar, Portugal. "We are facing a difficult time. We have to reduce our production costs to compensate for the currency situation," and that may involve shifting manufacturing from the home market of Japan "to some extent."
The euro's decline since April to a decade low against the yen this month is reducing export earnings at the Toyota City, Japan-based carmaker and competitors. Carlos Ghosn, chief executive officer of Nissan Motor Co., said on Oct. 6 that Japan may endure a "hollowing out" of its industrial base should the government fail to take steps to counter its currency's gains. (BusinessWeek ) |
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Oct 11
| Subaru plans product, technology blitz in mpg hunt |
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Subaru plans to introduce turbocharging, new transmissions, and hybrid drivetrains in a bid to boost its fleetwide fuel efficiency 30 percent between 2010 and 2015.
The technology blitz also includes a new, lightweight vehicle platform that will be introduced by 2015 and will replace the platform now used for all Subaru nameplates.
Motohisa Miyawaki, head of product planning and engineering, said there will be one full model change each year from 2012 through 2015 on top of this year's introduction of the XV small crossover in Japan and next year's debut of the BRZ sporty car.
(CNET) |
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Sep 28
| Honda enters mass car market |
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Honda of Japan on Tuesday launched its much awaited small car Brio, thus making its entry into the crowded and highly competitive mass car segment.
Priced between Rs.3.95 lakh and Rs.5.10 lakh for four variants, Brio is equipped with four cylinder 1.2-litre i-VTEC engine delivering 88 PS of power and fuel economy of 18.4 km a litre. (Hindu) |
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Sep 26
| Toyota adds first tiny 'minicar' to Japan lineup |
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Toyota is selling its first "minicar" in Japan as demand increases for the tiny vehicles which are popular for short commutes.
Toyota Motor Corp., Japan's top automaker, launched the Pixis Space minivehicle manufactured by group company Daihatsu Motor Co., on Monday.
Minivehicles, or "kei," are defined under Japanese regulations as having maximum length of 3.4 meters (11.15 feet), width of 1.48 meters (4.86 feet), height of 2 meters (6.56 feet) and engine displacement of less than 660 cc.
Taxes are lower for minicars, which now make up about a third of Japan's annual vehicle sales. (AP) |
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Sep 12
| Toyota makes Prius a priority in recovery push |
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Two weeks after Japan's March 11 earthquake knocked out more than 650 of Toyota Motor Corp. (7203)'s suppliers, halting worldwide production, the automaker had to decide where to focus its resources. It picked the Prius.
"We were rapidly burning through cash," said Atsushi Niimi, head of production, in an interview. "We decided we had to get things going bit by bit to survive through this, so we prioritized the cars our customers wanted most."
The carmaker started calling suppliers across the country to find parts for the Prius and luxury-brand Lexus hybrids. By March 28, Toyota's Tsutsumi and Kyushu factories were producing the models again at 30 to 40 percent of capacity, Niimi said. (Bloomberg) |
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Aug 25
| Mazda halts production of rotary engine sports car |
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Mazda Motor Corp. has canceled production of its RX-8 rotary engine sports car, citing falling sales and stringent global emissions standards.
Production in Hiroshima, Japan, ended in early July and global sales of the car will conclude later this year.
The RX-8 and the three generations of the RX-7 that preceded it have long been the foundation the brand's fun-to-drive aura. The car's high-revving 1.3-liter, twin-rotor rotary engine produces 232 hp at 8,500 rpm -- a big punch in a relatively small package.
But Mazda sold just 1,134 RX-8s last year, a 49 percent decline from 2009. Sales through July of 2011 were down another 21 percent. (CNET) |
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Aug 05
| Automakers losing ground overseas |
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Japanese automakers are struggling in overseas markets, especially the United States and China, weighed down by reduced production after the March 11 disaster and the appreciation of the yen.
Their South Korean and European rivals have performed better, rapidly narrowing the gap with Japanese automakers. South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. in particular has increasingly gained a reputation for its technology and designs.
According to U.S. research firm Autodata, Toyota Motor Corp.'s new car sales in the United States in July declined 22.7 percent to 130,802 units from a year earlier, the third significant drop in as many months. (Yomiuri) |
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Jul 30
| Japan's vehicle output plunges 29% in 1st half of 2011 |
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Japan's motor vehicle production in the first half of 2011 dived 29.2 percent from a year earlier to 3,429,934 vehicles, a reflection of the severe disruption to industry supply networks caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, an industry body said Friday.
The plunge compared with a 46 percent jump in auto output in the previous year's first half, when the auto industry receive a boost from an economic rebound and government subsidies to spur buying of ecologically friendly cars, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.
(Mainichi) |
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Jul 11
| Lexus to lose top spot in US luxury car market |
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Toyota Motor Corp's brand Lexus will end its streak of 11 years as the top luxury brand in the US market due to lost sales in the aftermath of the Japan earthquake and tsunami, said Mark Templin, Lexus Division general manager.
Templin said Lexus US sales would fall about 17% to around 190,000 vehicles in 2011.
The United States is the biggest market for Lexus.
All Lexus models, except the RX 350 crossover sport utility vehicle, are made in Japan. (The Star) |
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Jul 07
| Prius back on top of sales rankings |
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Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius hybrid in June recaptured the top spot among domestic sales for the first time in four months, thanks to the restoration of the company's parts supply chains, which had been damaged by the March disasters, industry groups said Wednesday.
The debut of the new Prius Alpha model in May also contributed to the model's rise, but its return to glory was dimmed as monthly sales declined 39 percent from a year earlier to 19,429 units. (Japan Times) |
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Jul 03
| Nissan Leaf pulls ahead of GM's Volt |
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Nissan Motor Co.'s Leaf, the first mass-produced electric car sold in the United States, took an early lead in the budding market for rechargeable autos by pulling ahead of General Motors Co.'s plug-in Volt in the first half.
Sales of lithium-ion powered Leafs totaled 3,875 this year through June, buoyed by a record 1,708 units delivered last month, Al Castignetti, Nissan's vice president of U.S. sales, said in an interview Friday. Deliveries of the plug-in Chevrolet Volt, which led the Leaf through May, were 561 in June and totalled 2,745 in the first half, GM said. (Japan Times) |
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Jun 02
| Toyota recalls 106,000 Prius cars |
|  Toyota recalled 106,000 first-generation Prius hybrid cars globally on Wednesday for faulty steering caused by a nut that may come loose.
The single minor accident suspected of being related to the problem was reported in the U.S., according to Toyota Motor Corp.
The latest recall from Toyota, which has taken hit to its reputation from massive recalls worldwide, affects 48,000 Prius vehicles in Japan, starting with the first Prius models that went on sale in 1997, and those manufactured through 2003. (AP ) |
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