Which part of the car of the future can cost more than half of the car, but has a lifespan a little better than a set of brake disks? The battery. No wonder that battery making is what suppliers focus on. If  EVs catch on, you want to be in the battery business. Toshiba and Mitsubishi Motors have ganged-up to produce batteries together, says The Nikkei [sub]. (Read More…)

A three-way relationship in the open is every man’s dream. Those who tried it usually recommend against it. Why? Just ask them.  As predicted, Mazda is putting an end to the three way Chinese Changan-Mazda-Ford joint venture. Mazda wants to go it alone with Changan, and no longer play third fiddle. (Read More…)

You think Japan is import-adverse? Have a look at that chart that follows, and you will see a wondrous trend: Japanese automakers are importing more and more foreign owned cars to Japan. Some of them even from the U.S.  Now, the imports will increase. Not from the US, but from …. (Read More…)

Japanese new car sales rose 20.6 percent year on year to 293,537 units in June, up for the 11th straight month, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association just told The Nikkei [sub]. And the best part is: (Read More…)

So Tesla lost $30m last quarter. Do you know who made $20m in profits on Tesla in one day? (Read More…)

An odd collection of 35 companies and organizations, amongst them the correspondence school Benesse, and the convenience store chain Lawsons, established an association yesterday in Japan to promote electric vehicles. It’s called “APEV,” as in “Association for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles.” (Apparently, beyond Japan.) There is only one problem … (Read More…)

If anybody harbored plans to kick Toyota in the shins and topple them from their top spot as the world’s largest automaker: Well, it didn’t work. Wags all over the world were predicting the worst for Toyota, but the numbers tell a totally different story. In the first five months of 2010, all units of Toyota produced 55.1 percent more cars worldwide than in the same period of 2009. The following table speaks for itself.

(Read More…)

Europe is a bit hybrid-adverse and far removed from Japan, where the Toyota Prius has been leading the charts for the 12^th month in a row. In a move to convert Europeans into hybrid-lovers, Toyota started production of their hybrid Auris in the UK. (Read More…)

As much as it pains me to admit it, Ford is a company to be admired. When bailouts were handed around like doobies in the Summer of Love, they didn’t partake (argue that point amongst yourselves, but you know what I mean). Their cars are interesting (to say the least) and their reliability is now being thought of in the same vein as Toyota, Honda and Hyundai. All of this is down to one man, Mr Alan “I bet you wish to made me CEO now! Eh, Boeing?!” Mulally. He put forward a vision of Ford divisions and subsidiaries working together to create a global product. He pared down the extraneous brands. He put the axe to Mercury and he didn’t need a bankruptcy to do it. In short, Mr Mulally has done well at Ford. The question is how well? (Read More…)

Toyota will supply small Subarus to Fuji Heavy, so that Fuji Heavy and Subaru can focus on midsize cars. According to information developed by The Nikkei [sub], “Toyota and Fuji Heavy intend to release a jointly developed sports car under their respective brands as early as the end of 2011.” If the Nikkei has its stuff together, then we might finally see the often delayed FT-86 next year. As a Toyota and a Subaru. (Read More…)

Hybrids are flying off the lots in Japan, with Toyota’s Prius leading the charts for the 12^th month in a row. Before, that spot was taken by another hybrid, the Honda Insight. In the Battle of the Hybrids, Honda introduces a fighter that hits below the belt, at the wallet: Honda will launch a hybrid in Japan that will cost around $17,000 in today’s dollars, “making it the most affordable hybrid in Japan,” The Nikkei [sub] says. The Nikkei sees a hybrid price war erupting in Japan. (Read More…)

Further to Ed Niedermeyer’s comments on local content of cars, Toyota announces changes to the most precious content of all: Who’s in the top slots of their presences abroad. In one fell swoop,  Toyota replaced leading positions in the U.S.A. and Europe with local content. (Read More…)

You thought the strikes that affected Honda and Toyota in China are over, and both are happily churning out cars again? That makes two of us. But we are mistaken. (Read More…)

While GM has problems trying to get the Volt price point to a point where customers won’t suffer a coronary (even with help from the DC sugar daddies), Nissan has a few problems of their own. Nissan is still reeling from the news that a Nissan Leaf would save you the princely sum of $361. Now, Automotive News [sub] reports another black eye on Nissan’s “Prius Killer”. Automotive News says that Nissan’s “100 miles range” may be slightly off in real world conditions. How far off? (Read More…)

It stands to reason that Japanese car makers would rejoice over rising wages in competing China and over an appreciating Chinese currency. Rising wages make production there more expensive, a rising Yuan makes exports more expensive. Both should give the Japanese more breathing room. That reasoning is falling by the wayside. The Nikkei [sub] reports that these developments pose ”serious threats to Toyota’s profitability in China, strategic challenges that other Japanese companies must also deal with.” Just goes to show that you need to be careful what you wish for. And wait who else should worry. (Read More…)