Yes, we at TTAC may be heralding the imminent departure of Suzuki in the United States, but figures compiled by industry stalwart Just-Auto show that Suzuki isn’t doing too badly in their home market of Japan – in fact, they may even eclipse Nissan.

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According to Toyota, if you don’t drive, you won’t get the girl. But at least a yarmulke-clad Jean Reno will help you out. No wonder so many young Japanese men are staying shut in their rooms.

Japanese new car sales jumped in July while the business is getting ready to enter negative territory during the rest of the year. (Read More…)

If you look at half year sales in Europe, then you see Renault as the worst performer of the volume makers. With EU sales down 17.09 percent, the Renault Group took a bigger hit than European patients Opel (- 15 percent) and PSA (-13.9 percent). Even troubled Fiat was doing better than Renault, by a hair (-17.08 percent for Fiat.) Whereas the percentages carry the smell of death, Renault’s half year results smell downright rosy. (Read More…)

“I am following him everywhere, except into the rest room.” For nearly twelve years, interpreter Yuki Morimoto has been Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn’s adapter to the Japanese world. The lady is a miracle. She simultaneously translates Ghosn’s high-speed stream of wit and Gallic sarcasm into Japanese, and translates Japanese back into perfect English. Morimoto is so in tune with Ghosn that she sometimes finishes his sentences before him – in Japanese. (Read More…)

Mazda released first pictures and a teaser video of its brand-new Mazda 6, known in Japan as the Atenza. According to Automotive News [sub], the car will arrive stateside early next year as a 2014 model, equipped with a 2.5 liter Skyactiv engine. If you want to see and touch the car now, you have to go to Russia. (Read More…)

It is a Japanese tradition. At this time of the month, all Japanese automakers provide their global results for the preceding month and the year. This month is no exception. Honda did set an all-time June record and raised its worldwide production by 66 percent for the first half. Nissan also reports an all-time June record and that global production is up 19 percent January through June. The most watched  numbers come from Japanese juggernaut Toyota. (Read More…)

Oddly, it all started with a truck

Car counters, pay attention:  Sometime in June (nobody really knows when and where), Toyota made its 200 millionth car. (Read More…)

Yesterday, we talked about the odd occurrence of Toyota if not saving the hide of GM’s new partner PSA Peugeot Citroen, then at least keeping one of PSA’s plants from being closed. This by having vans made by PSA for the European market, instead of  shipping them from Japan.

When we wrote that, TTAC correspondent th009 rightfully questioned why in the world does Toyota order a van from PSA if they have a Hiace. Correspondent felix offered the explanation that due to its “cab-over configuration, the Hiace won’t meet European frontal impact crash standards.” This sounded like a logical explanation, until from Finland, correspondent Perc offered a resounding “mitää???”, explaining that the Hiace has been a big success in Suomi. Finland has the same safety standards as all on Europe.

So, what is it then? (Read More…)

A Spade.

Listening to demands for “compact cars with minivan-like features,” Toyota unleashed two truly mini minivans upon the Japanese public, with the aim of becoming the leader in that segment. But wait what they called the thing. (Read More…)

While France’s new leftist government mulls a new “drive French” plan and makes threatening gestures in the direction of French car makers that dare to do something about overcapacity, in an odd change of events it is a Japanese company that will prevent a much anticipated plant closure at PSA Peugeot Citroen. (Read More…)

Less than a year ago, the Tokyo automotive press corps was summoned to Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main Japanese islands to visit a Nissan plant. Nobody knew why, until Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn had one of his trademark impromptu outbursts. He called the exchange rate “abnormal,” several times, until everybody got it. He threatened several times that Nissan and most of the Japanese industry would pack up and leave, and delivered an ultimatum: “If six months down the road we are still in this situation, then this will provoke a rethinking of our industrial strategy.” (Read More…)

Nissan joins Hyundai and Kia in exporting cars to the U.S. Nissan will make the Rogue SUV at a plant of Alliance partner Renault Samsung Motor. This according to similar reports by Reuters and the Nikkei [sub], both without quoting official sources. (Read More…)

Honda is shifting production of the Civic Hybrid out of Japan and over to the United States, as part of a plan to boost their Indiana assembly plant.

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Nissan launched a new generation of its global hatchback, the Note, today. The launch party was held at the Osanbashi Pier in Yokohama, a favorite venue for Tokyo car launches. This reporter has taken the summer off from Tokyo, all I can tell you is what was dispatched from Nissan HQ. (With subtitles.) (Read More…)