October and the first half of November have historically been a great time for dealers to buy cars on the cheap. There are no spending holidays. No Christmas or end of the year bonuses. No tax refunds. Not even a hint of federal legislation that may push old beaters onto the ‘cheap’ side of the ledger.

But there are thousands of used car sales managers that see nothing but big losses on much of their inventory at this time of year. The green Hummer that seemed like such a great deal back in red-hot June may be molderizing at the back of the lot by November. Same goes for the trade-in’s that were valued perhaps a bit too strong… just so the deal on the new car could get done.

Read More >

Over the last few weeks we have visited Panama, Colombia, China and the USA in 1975. This week I thought we would go back to Asia for a little trip to South Korea.

The kingdom of Hyundai and Kia is up there with Germany and Japan when it comes to chauvinistic tastes: having an import model in the Top 30 best-sellers is a rare occurrence…

If you’re not a fan of Hyundais and Kia, well am afraid this article is not for you! But it’s ok, I’ve prepared 159 other countries for you to visit in my blog, and I can tell you it is 아주 좋은 (very good), so click away!

Hyundai and Kia truly are the kings of South Korea, both accounting for 9 of the 10 best-selling models last month…

Read More >

None of the approximately 100 journalists that packed Toyota’s basement meeting room in Tokyo today was surprised when the midterm results of the current fiscal year were announced, and there was an operating loss of 32.6 billion yen ($417 million). The loss was a little higher than expected, but expected it was. If you lose 689,000 units in sales, then you are bound to lose some money. The surprise came in the form of an unexpected new benchmark: Nissan. Read More >

With the Tokyo Motor Show only weeks away, Japanese manufacturers start dribbling out announcements of what they will show at the show.

Subaru for instance announced to the astonished world today “that it will roll out the Subaru BRZ compact sports car, jointly developed with Toyota Motor Corp. at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month,” says The Nikkei [sub]. No word from Toyota on its Subaru-sibling, any announcements from Aichi are under tight embargo. And when they say embargo in Japan, they mean it. Except when you are Nissan. Read More >

Ever since the messy collapse of solar panel maker Solyndra just two years after it received over half a billion dollars in government loans,  the political climate around all green energy loan programs has heated up considerably. As the White House opened an investigation of the Department of Energy’s entire loan portfolio, loan recipients and startup automakers Tesla and Fisker found themselves under attack. And why not? Fledging firms with unproven products in brutal, scale-driven industries are hardly safe bets, even in the best of times. And with the government drowning in deficits, who’s in a gambling mood?

What gets left out in the hue and cry is that Tesla and Fisker between them represent “only” about a billion dollars worth of DOE loans in a program that was supposed to be able to loan out $25b (the final tally could be closer to $18b). Dwarfing the half-billion-each investments in Fisker, Tesla, and Solyndra are projects that seem a lot less risky in contrast to the startups. Here, in Smyrna, TN, I got to see one of them being built.

Read More >

Of all the Japanese automakers, none are as far behind on hybrid technology as Nissan. For some time there was a sense that Nissan’s (relatively) huge investment in electric vehicle production would represent a “leapfrogging” of hybrid technology, but now the firm is using the common industry response to questions about future technology: a suite of options, rather than one single technology, will meet tomorrow’s low-energy transportation needs. As a result, Nissan’s been playing catchup, as it admits in a recent press release [PDF]

“We must have a tougher job than any other hybrid team in the industry,” says Mitsunobu Fukuda, a senior powertrain engineer at NATC. “Because our CEO, Carlos Ghosn, used to be known as skeptical about the value proposition of hybrids we had to make a really compelling case that we could deliver value to customers to get him to validate a hybrid program.

In 2004, as a stopgap measure, Nissan licensed hybrid technology from Toyota for use in certain markets.

“It was a bit of a blow to our pride, but that was the right thing to do under the circumstances,” Fukuda says.“Instead of rushing out a ‘copy-cat’ hybrid we wanted to take the time to develop our own hybrid, one that is clearly different – and better. I think we’ve managed to do that.”

What makes Nissan’s forthcoming hybrid system so different? For one thing, it uses Nissan’s “one motor, two clutch” system (currently found only on the Infiniti M Hybrid), which enables a compact design. For another, it’s supercharged.

Read More >

Nissan today released the 2012 model of its super car that is not only for the super rich, the GT-R. This is not a pre-announcement of what will be shown at the Tokyo Motor Show a few weeks from now. According to Nissan, the car “goes on sale in Japan on November 24 at Nissan dealers nationwide.”

The 2012 model has more power (550 hp, nominal), more torque (632 Nm), and uses a bit less gas (8.6 km/liter or 20 mpg, definitely non-EPA).

Unofficial acceleration times, measured on Sendai Highland Raceway, November 3:

• 0-100km/h: 2.8 sec. 
• 0-60mph: 2.7 sec.

With the 2012 GT-R, Nissan most likely will have another go at the Nordschleife. Nissan certainly dropped ample hints during the launch. Read More >

The persistent floods in Thailand did cost Japanese automakers already close to  200,000 unbuilt vehicles, and no end of the floods is in sight. This is putting a severe crimp into the major push that was planned for the last quarter of 2011 and the fist quarter of 2012 to make up for lost production after the March 11 tsunami.

Here is a current tally by The Nikkei [sub]. Read More >

A lot of us have never been in a Nissan Leaf. But what about a battery operated Nissan Leaf Nismo race car? Chances are slim: Only eight of them have been (hand) built so far. Yesterday, I was in one of the few. Read More >

I was still a little shook-up from the treatment administered by Matsuda-san, and it must have shown. “Why don’t you get some fresh air?” was the polite Japanese suggestion. Read More >

Today, I drove all 530 hp (more or less) of the 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged 24-valve V6 engined Nissan GT-R down their test track in Oppama, not too  far from the U.S. Yokosuka Navy base, home of the 7^th Fleet. In a way, car, neighborhood and situation reminded me of the nuclear weaponry: Have it, but don’t use it. Read More >

Donovan writes:

Hi guys,

I follow TTAC kind compulsively on a daily basis. I have a very nice 2005 Honda Accord. Its the 2.4l 4 pot, i-Vtec and a stick shift to boot. The car has a LEV sticker and I believe it was one of the first motors to pass some stringent emissions standard (California I think). I bought it 2 years ago and it was a sweet, certified deal. It is also, now paid for. I keep a log book for gas mileage and the car averages 28 / 29 MPG and I can be a bit of a lead foot now and then.

What exactly is my problem, you might ask?

Read More >

I was in the air to Tokyo when Nissan announced its half year results in Yokohama. But Nissan was kind enough to send me a video they produced in their spanking new Yokohama studio. In an interview with CFO Joe Peter, Nissan’s Dan Sloan discusses not just Nissan’s good numbers, but also the strong yen (which makes them look less good), Thailand, and the outlook for the rest of the year.

When the March 11 tsunami hit, Nissan was first to recover. This was caused by quick reaction and sheer luck. Now that Japanese carmakers are under water in Thailand, it looks like Nissan will emerge relatively unscathed again. The Nikkei [sub] reports that Nissan plans to resume partial production in Thailand from November 14. Read More >

Did you think $27k was a steep ask for a non-premium-brand compact car? How does a $40k Focus grab you? That’s a good four grand over what Nissan wants for a Leaf (and about $2k more than a loaded Leaf), and about $12k more than the Mitsubishi i (all before available tax credits). On the other hand, we don’t yet know if Ford can claim an EPA-certified range advantage over the Leaf (both Ford and Nissan initially claimed 100 miles, but the EPA dropped the Leaf to 73 miles). In any case, if you want the most expensive Focus ever built, or the first Blue Oval-badged plug-in, Ford’s started taking reservations online… but like any good insanely-expensive-for-what-it-is product, you need more than money to bring home an Electric Focus. Specifically, a little patience and an address in one of the following communities:

 Atlanta, Houston, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, New York City, Orlando, Florida,Phoenix, Tucson, Portland (OR), Raleigh-Durham, Richmond, Virginia, Seattle, or Washington, D.C.

But only California and New York will get a Focus EV this year… the rest will be waiting until Q2 of next year. And the remainder of the US market could be waiting even longer, as Ford has not yet announced a full rollout date. But then, a little exclusivity never hurts when you get above the $40k price point.