We have been keeping one eye on the Nissan/Renault plans for low cost cars for a while. All indications have been that the alliance is working on a car that could sell in the neighborhood of $5,000 and still make a profit. The secret of doing this is spreading the development effort over as many units as possible.
Today, The Nikkei [sub] writes that Nissan will resurrect its Datsun brand in order to sell low-priced cars in emerging markets. According what the Nikkei “learned” without naming sources, the cars will initially be built and sold in India, Indonesia and Russia. Allegedly, Nissan hopes to “achieve annual sales of 300,000 Datsuns a year soon.” Read More >
We have been saying for quite a while that Honda looks a bit pale around the nose. The Nikkei [sub] agrees. According to the Tokyo business paper, Honda blew it by relying too much on the U.S. market, by ignoring the emerging markets, and by disregarding the fact that Japan has a love affair with 0.6 liter midget-mobiles, a.k.a. kei cars. All of this has to change in a hurry, and Honda’s turn-around hinges on the success of a new kei car, the N Box. Says The Nikkei: Read More >
While strolling around in Nissan’s Tech Center, looking for secret cars, I lucked into this: Nissan’s first EV. Along with its Chief Engineer. Both retired. Read More >
Today, Nissan had invited distinguished guests, from the Governor of Kanagawa province all the way to the chief of the local fire department, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Nissan Technical Center. Nissan’s main R&D hub is a city of 9,500, nestled into the foothills of Mount Fuji and surrounded by hills that keep it away from prying eyes. To get there, you must drive through a tunnel. Let’s see what we find here … Read More >
Unlike other car companies that perfected the slow reveal to a tantalizing and sometimes agonizing strip-tease, Infiniti had sworn to keep its EMERG-E study fully clothed until it bares all at the upcoming Geneva Auto Salon. This plan was toast on Saturday night when pictures purloined from an official Infiniti press kit appeared “on the Internet,” as Carscoop claims.
“Don’t ask me how” those pictures got out, sighs Yokohama-based Infiniti spokesperson Nathalie Greve. Read More >
Everybody in the business knows that the BYD S6 SUV is a blatant copy of the last generation Lexus RX350 SUV. The rip-off is so blatant that BYD even registered a European patent for their carbon copy. If you don’t look close enough, pretty much the only parts that differ are the grille and some BYD badges. Mei wen ti! No problem! Read More >
Toyota plans to more than double its exports to South Korea to 20,700 vehicles this year, says The Nikkei [sub]. The cars come from places that used to be import nations for Toyota: The U.S. and Europe. After announcing plans to export U.S.-built cars to South Korea, Toyota now is looking to bringing made-in-Europe cars back to Asia. Read More >
The early 90s were tough times. Stock markets had crashed, real estate bubbles had popped, budgets were slashed. The fabled Daytona 24 hours endurance race survived (barely) with Rolex as a sponsor.
In 1992, the field was down to 49 cars, one of them a newcomer from Japan, Number 23, fielded by Nissan’s Nismo (Nissan Motorsports International) factory team. Read More >
Mazda’s stock jumped 6 percent today in Tokyo on news that the Mazda CX-5 crossover SUV is available at Mazda dealers in Japan. Mazda plans for 1,000 units per month to be sold in Japan, and Mazda President Takashi Yamanouchi told The Nikkei [sub] that he expects annual global sales to reach approximately 200,000 units.
The massive wave of recalls that brought some 9 million Toyotas back to the dealers, amidst a frenzied coverage by a sometimes hysteric media, did less damage to the brand than imagined. A study from North Carolina State University shows that Toyota’s safety-related recalls that began in 2009 had little to no impact on how consumers perceived the brand. Read More >
Which country is Toyota’s second largest export hub? If all goes according to the wishes of Yoshimi Inaba, president of Toyota Motor North America, then that will be North America. Toyota has an annual production capacity of 1.8 million vehicles in the U.S. alone and wants to export increasing numbers to the world, Inaba told The Nikkei [sub]. Read More >
The trip had been keeping the gaggle of foreign reporters that cover the Japanese auto beat awake for weeks.
“Are you going on THE TRIP???” “Yes. Did you hear Toyota is actually PAYING for flight and hotel?” “REALLY?” “I kid you not.” “NO WAY!”
Not prone to believing in miracles, I called Toyota to find out what flight and hotel to book. “Oh, no. We’ll take care of you.” Unheard of. Read More >
Toyota U.S.A., Inc. today announced pricing for the 2012 Prius c subcompact hybrid. They were not kidding when they had promised that the car would start at below $19,000. Read More >
We have been keeping one eye on the Nissan/Renault plans for low cost cars for a while. All indications have been that the alliance is working on a car that could sell in the neighborhood of $5,000 and still make a profit. The secret of doing this is spreading the development effort over as many units as possible.
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