Several Japanese automakers are accelerating plans to increase their supply of SUVs and other similarly sized vehicle types. These efforts are driven by the popularity of light trucks in the U.S., as well as by the low price of crude oil. Japanese automakers had already intended to up production of SUVs, expanding past their specialties...
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Five Major Nissan Suppliers Increase Profits, Revenue in First Quarter
Five of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.’s (TYO:7201) six market-listed suppliers saw increased revenue and profits for the April–June quarter. This was driven by robust production from the Japanese automaker of new vehicle models, accompanied by increased orders and cost reduction activities among other streamlining efforts. Unipres Corp. (TYO:5949) achieved growth in revenue and profits across...
Automotive and Energy Companies Look Into Business Partnerships – Part 2
By Tsutomu Sasaki, senior manager for research and consulting, The Japan Research Institute Ltd. Automotive Industry Trends Have Potential to Influence Energy Sector When it comes to the topic of reducing carbon emissions through renewable energy or to that of building a distributed energy society, it has been argued for some time that companies in...
Hitachi Chemical to Supply Ford With Copper-Free Friction Material
Hitachi Chemical Co. Ltd. (TYO:4217) recently announced that it will supply copper-free friction material to Ford Motor Co. The product, for which Hitachi Chemical guarantees a copper content of under 0.5 percent, will be used in brake pads for Ford’s Fusion sedan. The material was developed to be environmentally friendly, and will work with automatic...
Automotive and Energy Companies Look Into Business Partnerships – Part 1
By Tsutomu Sasaki, senior manager for research and consulting, The Japan Research Institute Ltd. Automakers Respond to New Environmental Regulations With Clean Energy Strategies The French government announced on July 6 that it intends to prohibit domestic sales of vehicles powered by gasoline or diesel by 2040. The British government followed suit soon after with...
Asahi Kasei to Increase S-SBR Production in Singapore
Asahi Kasei Corp. (TYO:3407) has announced that it will increase its production capacity of solution styrene butadiene rubber (S-SBR) in Singapore for fuel-saving tires. The move comes as a response to the increasing demand for fuel-saving tires, among others in developing countries. Asahi Kasei will increase related S-SBR production in Singapore by 30,000 tons per...
Toyota to Test New Car-Sharing Application in Hawaii
Toyota Motor Corp. (TYO:7203) launched a new car-sharing application on Aug. 17 and announced that it will be conducting a pilot testing program with Servco Pacific Inc., a Toyota dealer in Hawaii. During the pilot program, the service will be used by employees only, after which it will be made available to the public in...
With FCA on Board, BMW Group’s Self-Driving Partnership Could Be Leading Player
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced on August 16 that it is joining the BMW Group and Mobileye in the development of an autonomous driving platform. The participation of FCA and a growing number of major suppliers could allow the alliance to take the industry lead in the development of self-driving cars. BMW, Mobileye and FCA...
METI to Revise Japan’s Basic Energy Plan
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has set about reviewing the country’s Basic Energy Plan. While following the framework already in place for the plan, METI will look at additional policies to achieve the government’s 2030 targets of raising the proportion of zero emissions power supply and energy self-sufficiency. The Basic Energy Plan...
Bosch to Launch Electric Bicycle Assist Unit in Japan
Bosch Corp. recently announced that it will enter the Japanese market for electric bicycle assist units. The company plans to roll out within the year imported bicycle brands featuring Active Line Plus, a new electric assist unit. It will be unveiled in October at the 45th Tokyo Motor Show 2017. Parent company Robert Bosch GmbH...
Car Navigation Makers See Falling Revenues Despite Strong First Quarter
Three of Japan’s five car navigation system manufacturers saw revenues fall in the first quarter of fiscal 2017. The drop is attributed to sluggish sales of in-car electronics in the original equipment manufacturing (OEM) segment in the April–June period, due to new vehicle sales in the U.S. market falling below the previous year’s level. The...
Schaeffler Group Releases Sales Figures for First Half of 2017
Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG, commonly known as Schaeffler Group, has released its consolidated earnings for the period of January–June 2017. Excluding foreign exchange fluctuations, net sales for the period rose 3.8 percent over the previous year to 7 billion euros ($8.24 billion). Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), excluding special accounts, fell 10...
Onkyo to Develop AI-Equipped Speakers for Connected Cars
Onkyo Corp. (TYO:6628) announced on Aug. 15 that it will develop AI-equipped smart speakers for use in connected cars. Connected cars use the internet and other technology to connect with external resources, and are expected to continue growing in popularity. This will mean an increase in the quantity of information available to drivers and, as...
BorgWarner Makes Push With EV Parts on Back of Environmental Policies in China
BorgWarner Inc. is embarking on an electric powertrain strategy. With strengthened environmental regulations in various countries pushing companies toward vehicle electrification, the major U.S. auto parts manufacturer responded last year by acquiring Remy International Inc., a company engaged in drive motors. BorgWarner now is looking to expand its business surrounding vehicle electrification in China and...
Suzuki to Bolster Used Car Business in India
Suzuki Motor Corp. (TYO:7269) is taking steps to bolster the company’s used car business in India. In addition to revamping its certified pre-owned vehicle system from this month, Suzuki will add 150 new outlets dedicated to selling certified pre-owned vehicles by March 2018. India is seeing growing demand for used cars along with rising new...
NGK Spark Plug Develops New SOFC Stacks for Commercial and Industrial Use
NGK Spark Plug Co. Ltd. (TYO:5334) recently announced that it has developed new flat-plate solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) for commercial and industrial use. Through the addition of SOFCs that support a higher output than those for home use and allows for more potential applications, the company hopes to further expand its fuel cell stack...
Japan’s Four Tire Giants Upwardly Revise Full-Year Forecasts
Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108), Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (TYO:5110), Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5101) and Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5105) have each released their mid-term business results for 2017. Strong tire demand at home and abroad brought Japan’s four tire manufacturers steady revenue growth over the January–June period, but profits were squeezed by an...
Toyota, Denso Join With Other Companies to Establish Consortium for Connected Cars
Toyota Motor Corp. (TYO:7203), Denso Corp. (TYO:6902) and several other companies announced on Aug. 10 plans to establish the Automotive Edge Computing Consortium, a business association to support connected car services. The consortium will focus on enabling the computation and transmission of big data between vehicles and the cloud. Members aim to have a partial...
UD Trucks Unveils New Kuzer Light-Duty Truck for Indonesian Market
UD Trucks Corp. revealed its new line of Kuzer light-duty trucks on Oct. 10 at the opening day of the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS). The Kuzer is slated to be launched in the Indonesian market, where only UD Trucks’ Quester line of heavy-duty trucks is available at present. Deciding it necessary to expand...
Honda to Offer New Aftermarket Parts for 20-Year-Old Beat
Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (TYO:7267) has announced that it will begin selling aftermarket parts for the Beat, a kei-class two-seat convertible sold from 1991 to 1996. Initial sales will include five parts: front and rear wheels, driver’s seat belt, license plate light and heater motor. The company will release an additional 75 parts sequentially starting...
NPA Deliberates on Secondary Tasks During Autonomous Driving
Japan’s National Police Agency (NPA) has initiated deliberations on autonomous driving, covering such topics as recognition of non-driving tasks during autonomous driving. By the end of the current fiscal year, the NPA hopes to establish some direction for policy. The Japanese government has a goal of making Level 3 autonomous driving feasible by 2020. At...
Mazda Brings Forward CX-5 Production Increase on Back of Heavy Orders
Mazda Motor Corp. (TYO:7261) will begin additional production of the CX-5 in October of this year at the company’s plant in Hofu, Yamaguchi Prefecture. The production increase comes a month earlier than initially planned. With a strong flow of orders for the new CX-5 model leading to tight supply, the company aims to use the...
Nissan Agrees to Transfer Electric Battery Business to China’s GSR Capital
Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (TYO:7201) announced on August 8 that it will sell its electric battery operations and production facilities to GSR Capital, a Chinese private investment fund. Nissan and GSR entered into the share transfer agreement that same day, and will complete the relevant proceedings by the end of December. The agreement covers Nissan’s...
Mazda Announces World’s First Commercial CI Petrol Engine: SkyActiv-X
Mazda Motor Corp. (TYO:7261) announced on Aug. 8 that it will launch the world’s first commercial petrol engine to use compression ignition (CI), the SkyActiv-X, in 2019. The SkyActiv-X uses homogenous charge compression ignition (HCCI) technology, compressing a mixture of petrol and air with a piston to make it self-ignite similarly to fuel in a...
Denso Advances Development of Semiconductors for Self-Driving Cars
Denso Corp. (TYO:6902) is accelerating its development of semiconductors for perception, judgment and control functionality in self-driving cars. The company is working on a semiconductor that uses sensor data to enable a level of perception on par with that of humans and another that allows for human-level snap decisions. The former, which is targeted for...
Mitsubishi Motors Hopes Half of Eclipse Cross Buyers Will Be New Customers
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (TYO:7211) aims to attract 50 percent of sales for its new Eclipse Cross compact SUV from customers who are new to the Mitsubishi Motors brand, according to the marketing plan for the model to be launched this fiscal year. The plan will target minivan replacement demand among consumers in their late 40s...
Subaru’s New Levorg, WRX S4 Exceed Pre-Order Targets by Over 150%
Subaru Corp. (TYO:7270) announced on Aug. 7 that pre-orders for the company’s new Levorg and WRX S4 models have surpassed monthly sales targets by more than 150 percent. Both new models are fitted with an upgraded version of the company’s EyeSight driver assist system as standard equipment. Additional driver assist functionality has been installed as...
METI to Support Corporate Product Design Strategies
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is pledging its support for Japanese corporate product design strategies. METI has set up an exploratory committee to consider industrial competitiveness and design and already started having discussions on the topic. The committee will submit an interim report by November and a final report next March, with...
Akebono Brake Industry to Increase Production Capacity for Calipers in US
Akebono Brake Industry Co. Ltd. (TYO:7238) will be increasing production capacity for brake calipers and pads at its plant in Glasgow, Kentucky. The company will construct two new production lines for full-size SUV brake calipers and a new line for aftermarket brake pads. Having made parts for General Motors Co. at the factory, Akebono is...
Toyota Upwardly Revises Projections for 2017 on Back of Strong First Quarter
Toyota Motor Corp. (TYO:7203) upwardly revised its earnings forecast on Aug. 4 for the full business year ending in March 2018. The company’s total sales forecast is now 28.5 trillion yen ($257.33 billion), a 1 trillion yen increase from previous estimates. Operating profit is now forecast at 1.85 trillion yen and net profit at 1.75...
