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.
With only a few days until the end of the month, Edmunds issued its June sales forecast. Edmunds expects that 1,270,901 new cars will be sold in June, translating into a 20.7 percent increase compared to June 2011, and a 4.7 percent decrease from May 2012. The Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) is projected to come in at 13.9 million light vehicles. Read More >
A few weeks ago, I took a Scion FR-S out for a spin. It was an automatic dealer demo, so I decided to withhold judgement until I drove the manual transmission car.
While other carmakers are treading water or worse, BMW’s global sales were up 9.1 percent for the first five months of the year, mostly on strong gains in China. That party is about to end, claims Citi Investment Research and downgraded BMW AG from “buy” to “neutral,” Reuters reports.
In the euphemistic world of stock analysts, a “neutral” usually means a sell. Read More >
Judging from their writings, many TTAC commenters are prime candidates for a job as CEO at one of the world’s largest automakers. However, be careful who you work for. Executive pay is all over the map. It ranges from a charitable contribution of $1.71 million given to Toyota’s CEO, to nearly $29 million a year on Ford’s Alan Mulally’s paystub.
This according to a table circulated among reporters who, perched precariously in the 6th floor balcony of the National Convention Hall at the Pacifico in Yokohama, observed Nissan’s 113th ordinary general shareholders meeting today. Read More >
Members of the MR2 Jihad generally refer to the creature on the hood emblems of their cars as the “Screaming Eagle,” but I say it’s a stoic, tight-beaked Robot Eagle. I hadn’t paid much attention to this emblem, since it’s quite small and mounted on a car snout that sits quite close to the pavement, but then a 24 Hours of LeMons team composed of Toyota engineers created a gigantic Pontiac Trans Am-style decal version for the hood of their MR2. Robot Eagle! Read More >
The Corolla has been with us since the 1966 model year, the Civic since 1973. The Sentra didn’t appear until partway through 1982, and first-year examples are quite rare (the closest I’ve come in the junkyard is this ’83 sedan). Here’s one that I found at a Denver yard a few weeks ago. Read More >
“Reliability, safety and availability” were the criteria Edmunds used to arrive at its 2012 used car best bets. They are taken from the pool of 2005 through 2010 cars, because two to seven year old cars usually are the better deals.
As part of a very Russian “incentive program”, GM is more than doubling the output of its wholly owned manufacturing facility in St. Petersburg, Russia. Annual production will increase to 230,000 vehicles by 2015, up from 98,000 units currently. Read More >
This is the first installment of a three-part series on Hyundai’s three newest offerings, the Elantra Coupe, Elantra GT and Veloster Turbo.
As I casually sauntered over to the gunmetal Elantra GT, I my mind began to ponder Jack’s piece on the Lamborghini and the politics of masculinity, until a Hyundai PR rep stopped me in mid-daydream. “Oh, you guys are driving the Elantra Coupe this morning.”
Less than a week before Nissan’s stockholder meeting on the 26th at the Pacifico in Yokohama, Carlos Ghosn’s inner circle in Paris and Yokohama finds itself chasing a warmed-over rumor. Today, Bloomberg writes that “Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn is considering stepping down before the company’s next mid-term business plan begins in about five years.” A source close to Ghosn calls it “absolute nonsense and a yawner.” Read More >
Again and again, executives at Japanese car companies warned of a “hollowing out” of the Japanese industry if the yen remains as overvalued as it is. The yen remains unimpressed. Now, the executives start hollowing. A day after rumors of a reduction of domestic capacity at Toyota had hit the wires, Nissan is said to trim domestic output capacity by 15 percent. It will happen as early as next month, The Nikkei [sub] says. Read More >
In August last year, then Volkswagen of America sales chief Mark Barnes was moved to a post as “Vice President of Customer Experience” to make room for GM veteran Frank Trivieri, who took Mark’s job. At the time, I recommended : “Get a new job, Mr. Barnes! When next year’s J.D. Power study comes out, your derriere will be on the line!”
Instead of a thank you for the well-meant career advice, I had an irate Dr. Carsten Krebs on the line, who identified himself as the Director of Corporate Communications at Volkswagen Group of America, Inc, before he tore into me. He demanded a takedown of the story, which was denied. Herr Dr. Krebs claimed that Barnes “loves his new job.” It turned out as huey. Read More >
PSA’s owners are not happy with CEO Philippe Varin. They would already have sacked him, would a replacement be on hand, reports France’s La Tribune. Reason for the disenchantment: Catastrophic sales, and the alliance with GM. Read More >
Edmunds compiled a list of the ten best cars “for teen drivers.” Edmunds did not pick the cars according to driftability or their magnetic force on chicks. Edmunds used criteria that should be on the minds of the people who usually buy those cars: Parents. As a parent, says Edmunds, “you’ll need to consider three factors above all others: safety, reliability and true cost to own.”
Once Edmunds was done with the list, it looked like a fresh arrival of exchange students. Except for a lone Malibu, all cars have foreign nameplates. Read More >
Members of the 
The Corolla has been with us since the 1966 model year, the Civic since 1973. The Sentra didn’t appear until partway through 1982, and first-year examples are quite rare (the closest I’ve come in the junkyard is 
Recent Comments