There’s no way I’m going to spot a junked 80s Japanese car with the optional super-futuristic digital dash and not go back and buy that instrument cluster. So, now I’ve got a genuine digital dash collection going on, adding the Cressida cluster to my ’84 Nissan 300ZX Turbo cluster and my ’83 Mitsubishi Cordia Turbo cluster. Read More >
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Category: Nissan
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Nissan ReviewsThe 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. |
The winners of Nissan’s GT Academy have been chosen. To nobody’s surprise in particular, their group photograph is completely unsuitable for this site. Turns out that the Internet is a little short on hot girls or street-wise African-American dudes who are totes into racing imaginary cars online. Oh well. Now, the shortlist of digital Sennas is off to try their hand at driving some real cars.
We’ve seen a totally Malaise-y early Cressida and a didn’t-know-they-built-them-so-recently Cressida in this series, but I’ve been scouring the self-serve yards for an example of the mid-80s rear-drive Toyota luxury sedans. Finally, here’s an ’84, complete with all manner of high-tech (for the time) features. Read More >
Today, the Moscow Motor show opened its doors its doors to the public. This time, it is the Russian of more modest means who has the attention of the world’s carmakers, keen to profit from one of Europe’s few growing markets,” says Reuters, reporting from the show. Read More >
| Sales Forecasts August 2012 | ||||||
| Forecast TrueCar | Forecast Kelley | |||||
| Units | YoY | Share | Units | YoY | Share | |
| Chrysler | 142,593 | 9.60% | 11.4% | 142,600 | 9.60% | 11.2% |
| Ford | 191,456 | 9.50% | 15.3% | 191,600 | 9.60% | 15.1% |
| GM | 227,087 | 3.90% | 18.1% | 225,950 | 3.40% | 17.7% |
| Honda | 133,458 | 62.10% | 10.6% | 129,450 | 57.30% | 10.2% |
| Hyundai/Kia | 117,212 | 17.60% | 9.3% | 119,662 | 20.00% | 9.4% |
| Nissan | 97,022 | 6.00% | 7.7% | 105,000 | 14.70% | 8.2% |
| Toyota | 182,896 | 41.30% | 14.6% | 176,950 | 36.70% | 13.9% |
| Volkswagen | 47,069 | 32.80% | 3.7% | 53,500 | 50.50% | 4.2% |
| Industry | 1,255,392 | 17.20% | 100.0% | 1,273,000 | 18.70% | 100.0% |
When U.S. August sales numbers will be announced next week, TrueCar expects them to be up strongly. The Santa Monica forecaster predicts August new light vehicle sales to be in the neighborhood of 1,255,392 units, up 17.2 percent from August 2011. TrueCar’s forecast would translate into a Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate (“SAAR”) of 14.2 million new car sales, up from 12.1 million in August 2011. Read More >
Japan’s automakers released global production and sales data for July today. It is an ancient Japanese tradition, which is also shared by large European carmakers, but shunned by most American globals. GM for instance reports only quarterly on a global basis, and keeps observers guessing in between. July data released by Japanese large automakers shows a strong rebound after last year’s multiple disasters. Honda looks especially strong, while Toyota’s march towards regaining the title “World’s largest automaker 2012” appears unstoppable. Read More >
While foreign cars are still a bit underrepresented in Japan, fueling fierce allegations of trickery by unions, democrat lawmakers and grossly underrepresented Detroit carmakers, foreign carparts do not have this problem. With the yen stuck at abnormally high level, Japanese carmakers more and more buy their parts cheaper overseas. Read More >
|Reader Josh Howard relates the story of why he recommended a Mitsubishi to a co-worker…he’s a brave soul
After reading Derek’s excellent piece on Mitsubishi and their irrelevance in the American marketplace, I began thinking about the brand, and their history in the United States. A few months ago, I went against my better instincts and actually recommended one to a coworker despite knowing what Mitsubishi turned into in the early 2000’s…not to mention a turbocharged DSM car some years prior.
After sharing with you the Top 150 best-selling cars in the world last week, it is time for our acclaimed monthly rendezvous: the World Roundup! This is already the 5th World Roundup, it’s amazing how time flies, isn’t it?
If last month the focus was on the Focus (ha) in China and the Santa Fe in South Korea, in July most of the highlights happened in Europe…
You can check out previous world Roundups here for March 2012 (“Has the Hybrid era started for good?”), here for April 2012 (“Big change coming from India”) and here for May 2012 (“GM and Toyota Etios make headlines”).
Enough of the world and you just want to know which cars sell best in your own backyard? Easy. You can visit 168 countries and territories in my blog, one by one, in the comfort of your own lounge. Travelling the world doesnt get any cheaper than that!
Back to our Roundup.
Our newest segment, “Suspension Truth”, comes to us courtesy of Shaikh J Ahmad. An engineer by training, Shaikh is the owner of Fat Cat Motorsports, and a self-styled “Suspension Wizard”. Shaikh creates custom suspension components for a variety of cars, including the Mazda Miata and RX-8, the Nissan 350Z, Mini Cooper and Honda S2000. Back when I had my 1997 Miata, I ordered a set of coilovers from Shaikh, based on his reputation for creating suspension setups with a previously unheard of balance between ride and handling. The Fat Cat coilovers are one of the few products I’ve ever bought that were able to live up to the hype. Over the next few weeks, Shaikh will delve into the science of suspensions, and provide his own analysis of a number of production cars.
What’s your least memorable train ride? Simple question, right? If you’re reading this, I’m going to assume all of them. Unless a screenwriter threw you into an adventure film without your consent, it’s what we’d expect. This brings to mind a popular driving metaphor – ‘handles like it’s on rails.’ That’s our ideal in suspension tuning, to be glued to the ground and also as comfortable as possible. Easy when you’ve controlled every degree of freedom as with a train track and groomed earth beneath.
Renault has re-badged the Nissan Sunny and named it Scala for the Indian market. The French automaker is conducting media drives in Himachal Pradesh right now, where more details of the car have been disclosed. Mechanically, the Scala is a carbon copy of the Sunny. The design changes were done by Renault’s design center in Mumbai. Read More >
With only a week to go for August, Kelley Blue Book predicts a surprising 18.7 percent increase in new car sales for the month, and sees the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) to hit 14.4 million units. Read More >
The German edition of the Financial Times has a story about “broken taboos.” It says that “smaller Mercedes models and cars of Nissan’s premium division Infiniti could together roll off the assembly lines in 2016.” The FTD heard that the joint car could be “a small SUV, possibly based on the Mercedes A or B class.” Reuters has a good English abstract of the German story. Apparently, the FTD was asleep when a major busting of taboos was perpetrated in the beginning of the year. Read More >
Datsun’s association with Africa might be best linked with the East African Safari rally – but 42 years later, Datsun could return to the continent, though not in a motorsports capacity.
You can see this ad. Television viewers in the UK can’t. The Chevrolet Volt is sold in the UK as the Vauxhall Ampera, and its ad has been banned by the UK Advertising Standards Authority. It says the ad is misleading. The ad claims a 360-mile range. GM is a serial offender when it comes to alternate realities, and this ad is the latest installment. Read More >
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