Where would we be without our breakfast cereal, fresh from the  Chinese rumor mill? Two days ago, we wrote that Suzuki, Volkswagen, and SAIC are rumored to be working on a three-way tie-up. “Not so,” says SAIC according to Gasgoo. They denied a rumor that was spread by the competition at Suzuki’s Chinese partner Changan Auto. Read More >

The market took note when little Daihatsu announced  that its group net profit jumped 460 percent year on year to 19.9 billion yen ($227m) in the April-June quarter of the Japanese fiscal year.  Daihatsu is a Toyota company, and the market is eagerly expecting Toyota’s results. Read More >

The Chinese market keeps going, and going, and going. It was up  47.7 percent in the first six months of 2010. Can’t be, you say? Well, the rest of the Asian markets are not far behind. The six major ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore) bought 41 percent more cars in the first six months of 2010 than in the year before. Read More >

Nissan wants to invest “the Americas” with three new low-cost subcompacts, made in Mexico by their Aguascalientes factory that can crank out 300,000 units a year. The cars are based on the Nissan’s V-platform. The Nissan March (known outside Asia as the Nissan Micra) is currently being made in Thailand and re-imported to Japan. It sells there for around $10,000. Read More >

Except for Nissan, which outpaced the market, the big Japanese automakers are having a bit of a hard time in China. Toyota and Honda received a lot of bad press in the Middle Kingdom. Toyota for its recalls. Honda for its series of strikes. Whatever the reason, both are losing market share. This doesn’t bode well for the rest of the year, when the red-hot Chinese market is expected to cool down a bit. Read More >

Toyota Motor Corp. is expected to report a group operating profit of about 100 billion yen ($1.14b) for the April-June period, The Nikkei [sub]. That would be a huge improvement over the same quarter loss of 194.8 billion yen ($2.23b) in 2009. In case you are wondering about the strange quarters: Japan goes by the fiscal year that ends on March 31. The April-June period is the first quarter of the new year, and times are good at TMC. Read More >

Chrysler is taking a page out of Ford’s playbook and will surprise and delight Japan with their  “latest version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicle, which features Chrysler’s new Pentastar 3.6-liter V-6 engine,” if The Nikkei [sub] is not mistaken. Read More >

During the 1970’s and 1980’s everyone (mainly, the United States) thought that Japan would rule the world, economically speaking. At its peak, the Nikkei Dow stood at 38,957.44. Brands like “Zenith” and “RCA” made way for new brands like “Sony” and “Panasonic”. General Motors feared Japanese cars so much, they set up “Saturn” to fight them off. The UK government flirted with Toyota, Honda and Nissan to build their factories in the UK. Yep, the Japanese were the original rising dragon. Then came the 1990’s, and it all imploded. Since then, Japan was never quite the same. They were still strong, but manageable. While Japan got cut down to size, their car industry stayed strong. They still carried on taking market share in North America away from the domestics. Despite the Japanese prospering in North America, it wasn’t reciprocal. American car makers, and, indeed, many of our B&B, believe that Japan has a closed car market and has tariffs on imported cars. Our resident German has talked about the subject many times and successfully managed not to have an aneurysm over it (though he may have turned to drink) [ED: He did not.] Well, if Japan does have a closed car market, nobody told Ford. Read More >

Remember how Toyota was slapped with a $16.4m fine for allegedly withholding information and delaying recalls? Remember how Toyota was served again with a subpoena for information, what many read as the prelude for another $16.4m fine? (If anyone again says that $16,4m is pocket change, please send me the pocket change.) Well, there are some people in Washington who claim that it’s the U.S.  government that might be withholding information. Read More >

Whereas other Japanese carmakers struggle a bit in keeping up with the still quite hot Chinese market, Nissan finds itself way ahead. Nissan’s China sales rose 51.4 percent in the first half to 503,077 vehicles, says The Nikkei [sub]. Reason given: strong demand from middle-class buyers.  The Chinese market as a whole rose some 30 percent in the first six months. Read More >

It’s a little known fact, but Toyota’s first factory abroad was in Brazil. Toyota started producing their Bandeirante (known elsewhere as Land Cruiser, full history here) locally in CKD mode in 1958. In 1962, the factory in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo state was inaugurated. There, Toyota do Brasil produced the 4WD, almost unchanged, until the year 2000. The site is still productive, but now only makes parts. In the 90s, they inaugurated another factory in Indaiatuba, SP state, too, to produce the Corolla. In September, construction of the third Toyota factory in Brazil will begin in Sorocaba, São Paulo state. Read More >

Honda is moving closer to the grid. Honda is working on on a plug-in hybrid, and an all-electric car. It will take a while until they are ready, if you want one, you need to wait until 2013. Toyota is a step and a year ahead: ToMoCo will begin mass production of plug-in hybrids and electric cars in 2012. Read More >

So when you thought things at Toyota are getting back to normal, what with NHTSA backpedaling on their ghost in the machine busting attempts, here comes a biggie: A federal grand jury in New York served Toyota with a subpoena, seeking information relating to defects in its steering relay rods. Fancy lawyers call that a subpoena duces tecum, and charge more. The Washington Post reckons this might  “potentially widen an investigation that began with reports of sudden unintended acceleration.” Read More >

Those who have an ideological beef with China should keep one thing in mind: Without China, the car industry (to name just one segment) would be dead. China’s unbridled appetite for cars keeps the whole industry humming. Two examples: Read More >

Japanese car makers castworried glances at the thinning calendar:  On September 30,  Japan will discontinue their subsidies for environmentally friendly cars. That program had provided  Japan with China-sized double-digit growth rates. All things must pass, and Japanese automakers are getting ready for a German sized Abwrackprämien-aftershock: Everybody is expecting a run  on dealer lots through September and then: Bang. Other than in Germany, where people who never bought new traded in the jalopies for a cheap new car, in Japan there is a huge pull-forward effect. Automakers are preparing for the worst. Read More >