The Nissan name was first used in 1933, but the company's history goes back much further. Originally known as Kwaishinsha Motorcar Works, the company produced its first automobile, the DAT, in 1914. DAT later became Datsun (son of DAT) in 1931 and Datsuns went on to become the first mass-produced vehicles in Japan. Americans got their first look at the Datsun in 1958 - the 1200 Sedan. The Datsun 240Z was released as a 1970 model and it became the best selling sports car in the world, selling 500,000 units in less than 10 years.
That Subaru is still thriving is in itself a minor miracle. The small Japanese car makers have either imploded (Isuzu), are threatening to (Mitsubishi), or have sought shelter (even Subaru is now 20% owned by Toyota). Subaru did have its own near-death experience in the early nineties. But in a long string of wild bets, Subaru’s final card in the US was a big gamble on AWD, and the timing couldn’t have been better. And like most successful gamblers, there have been losses along the way (see above). But perhaps because of the bumpy ride, Subaru is still alive and kicking. Read More >
Honda CRV, Toyota Rav4, Audi Quattro, VW Syncro, and the whole host of all-wheel drive cars, crossovers and CUVs: they all trace their roots back to this skinny and ugly little Subaru 4WD wagon. Is this the most revolutionary and influential modern car?
The Japanese new car market, long believed to be down, out, and a victim of the dreaded demographic bomb, remains on its steep upward trajectory. With a little help from Japan’s benevolent government. Japan’s domestic sales of new cars, trucks and buses increased 33.5 percent from a year earlier in April, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said today as per The Nikkei [sub]. That’s up nine months in a row. One brand is especially happy. Name starts with a T. Read More >
AutoblogGreen‘s Sam Abuelsamid earns a tip of the blogger’s hat today for making sense of a fascinating nugget in a Times of London piece on the Nissan Leaf. The revelation by Nissan EV honcho Andy Palmer to the British paper that Leaf battery packs cost £6,000 (about $9k) to produce could have been missed, buried as it was near the bottom of the story. Not only did Abuelsamid catch it, he calculated that the Leaf’s 24 kWh lithium-ion battery costs break down to a staggeringly cheap $375 per kWh. How cheap is that, relatively speaking? Apparently cheap enough to send Li-ion startup A123 Systems’ stock to record lows according to the WSJ [sub]. More price-comparison context and some insight into how Nissan might have beaten those costs down after the jump.
Since GM Chairman/CEO Ed Whitacre began firing holdover executives, starting with former CEO Fritz Henderson, TTAC has argued that VP for Marketing Susan Docherty is a prime example of a GM lifer who “owes her career to GM’s timid and inept culture.” Having already lost the Sales VP position to GM’s rising star Mark Reuss, “leaving Docherty time to focus on the marketing side and polish up her resumé,” we figured she was on her way out. And sure enough, severalembarrassmentslater, the announcement came today. What we didn’t expect: that former Hyundai “Marketer of the year” Joel Ewanick would replace her.
One by one, European countries will scrap their scrappage incentives this year (if they haven’t already.) With predictable results: Without the governmental amphetamine, the market will be down. How much? Read More >
Within the Renault-Nissan alliance, Carlos Ghosn must have felt like he was the king. He and Louis Schweitzer were the architects of the fourth largest car making entity in the world. Then the Board of Directors chopped his legs out by vetoing his deal with Roger Penske to supply Saturn with Renault cars and, suddenly, Carlos Ghosn had a very sharp lesson. In the Renault-Nissan alliance, no-one is too big to fail. So when it came to his re-election as CEO, no-one thought it was a cut and dried affair. Well, on Thursday the 29/04/2010, Mr Ghosn received his second term at Renault. And he set out some targets to show the BoD he means business.
Reuters reports that over his next 4 year term, Ghosn envisions the following: Read More >
My sister’s current car, ’98 Nissan Altima A/T 180k Miles, recently came back from the mechanic where she received the unfortunate news that expensive repairs were in her near to immediate future. She’s been toying with the idea of purchasing a new car for the past year or so, and the recent news of dropping 2k into a car of such age and mileage finally has made her expedite her search. As such, she came to the knowledgeable “car guy” in the family… yours truly. She is looking for something reasonably inexpensive (roughly 25k max), automatic, four-door sedan, decent m.p.g., and most importantly excellent reliability with the intention of keeping the car for 10 or so years. Together we have narrowed down the choices to the following: Nissan Altima, Toyota Camry, VW Jetta, and the Ford Fusion. I’m personally leaning towards the Altima, but am unsure of the long-term reliability and cost of replacing/repairing the CVT. She liked the Fusion as well, but is being cautious on the reliability of a car on a newer platform.
Did you ever arrive in a foreign country, and the plug of your battery-depleted cell phone did not fit? Or worse, it did fit, and the charger went up in smoke? That’s nothing compared to the impending EV disaster. Buy an EV, and you will find yourself between the battle lines of plugs, voltages, and technologies. Imagine the horror: Guided by your GPS, you limp into a charging station on the last watts in your battery, and their round plug doesn’t fit your square socket. Read More >
Arriving in Tokyo on a Tuesday noon, I find the Japanese delighted by the news of the rebounding U.S. auto sales.
To their utmost enjoyment, “Toyota’s sales grew at almost the same pace as Ford’s, rising 24.4 percent to 157,439 vehicles from a year earlier,” says The Nikkei [sub]. Read More >
These three are continuing the trend established some months ago: Subaru strongly outperforming the market; Nissan somewhat ahead of it; and Suzuki trailing it substantially. All Subarus were up except the Tribeca, which is clearly in its fade out period. The Outback was up 133%.
Nissan showed the most balanced increase, with the same increase for both cars (+34%) and trucks (+34%). All the cars did well, with Versa up 44%, Sentra plus 38%, Altima up 23% and Maxima up 25%. The Cube is selling decently at about 2k units per month. Truck sales were also up fairly evenly, with Frontier (+60%) and Rogue (+38%) being two of the stronger models.
Suzuki’s models all swooned, and the story would be a disaster except for the Kizashi, which posted a rip roaring 406 units sold.
Speaking of April sales, American automakers and industry watchers are expecting a jump of nearly Chinese proportions when April sales will be announced on Monday. Easy: We are comparing with an April of 2009, when everybody assumed we’ll never buy a car again. Read More >
Nissan does not condone the comments made by this particular employee. While seemingly well-intentioned, many of the remarks are regrettable and do not represent the company’s views. Nissan’s policy regarding internet commentary is that an employee’s personal opinion must be preceded by a disclaimer that identifies their remarks as such and not necessarily the views of the company.
With over 8,000 pre-orders already logged, Reuters reports that Nissan is well on its way to selling out its capacity-constrained, 25,000-unit first-year production run of Leaf EVs. Better yet, Nissan’s North America director of product planning and strategy Mark Perry says that, with those sales volumes, the Leaf will actually turn a profit for Nissan. He tells Reuters:
We are making money at the price that we announced. We priced the car to be affordable. We priced it for mass adoption
China’s is without a shadow of a doubt one of the most exciting markets in the world (Especially for Bertel, it keeps him in Lederhosen and Japanese bar trips). Many companies are throwing their efforts into the Middle Kingdom. Buick is, to all intents and purposes, a China-only brand. Volkswagen declared China to be “Volkswagen’s second home” and Ford’s sales are rocketing there. However, while all eyes are on the fastest growing economy in the world, something fundamental in happening just across the border. Read More >
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