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...
OEM
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...
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...
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...
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...
Toyota and Mazda to Build $1.6B Production Plant in US, Partner up on EV Development
Toyota Motor Corp. (TYO:7203) and Mazda Motor Corp. (TYO:7261) announced on Aug. 4 that they have signed an agreement to enter into a business and capital agreement. Under the alliance, the two Japanese automakers will establish a JV in the U.S. with a production capacity of 300,000 units and work together on electric vehicle (EV)...
Suzuki Posts Record Profits in First Quarter
Suzuki Motor Corp. (TYO:7269) posted 26.7 billion yen ($240 million) in operating profit for the April–June quarter of fiscal 2017. It marks a record first-quarter for the company, coming on a year-on-year increase of 43.8 percent. Strong sales in India helped bring about the company’s first annual sales increase in two years, as well as...
Honda Looks to Quadruple Acura Sales, Expand Store Network in China
Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (TYO:7267) has announced that it plans to quadruple the sales of its Acura luxury brand in China, selling 30,000 units per year from 2020 onward. As part of this initiative, Honda will ramp up its promotion of the brand in an attempt to reach a wider customer base and gain a...
Mitsubishi Fuso Begins Production of Electric Truck in Portugal
Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp. began production of its electric-powered light truck, the eCanter, on Aug. 1 at Mitsubishi Fuso Truck Europe SA’s plant in Tramagal, Portugal. The small electric truck will be exported to North America and Europe. For Japan, production began in July at Mitsubishi Fuso’s Kawasaki factory. Twenty-five vehicles are scheduled...
Daihatsu to Launch Country-Specific Car Designs for Developing Regions
Daihatsu Motor Co. Ltd. plans to create varying, country-specific designs for a new next-generation car that the automaker plans to develop ahead of 2020. In emerging nations, design preferences vary from one country to another – even when the countries are in the same region. Daihatsu excels at developing vehicles in a short time frame,...
Honda Turns to Continental as Sole Parts Provider for New Driver Assist System
Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (TYO:7267) will adopt a system from Germany’s Continental AG for its expressway autonomous driving technology to go into commercial use in 2020. The Japanese automaker is aiming to gain a competitive edge in the competitive development of autonomous driving technology by procuring parts from Continental, which has extensive know-how in this...
Subaru to Accelerate Global Implementation of EyeSight System
Subaru Corp. (TYO:7270) will accelerate the global roll-out of its EyeSight driver assistance system. Currently used in five regions, including Japan, EyeSight will be introduced to the ASEAN region, the Middle East, Russia and Latin America. The Japanese automaker has significantly improved development efficiency of the system for varying driving conditions across several regions through...
Honda Announces Launch of New Accord for North America
Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (TYO:7267) announced on July 17 that it will launch the new Accord in North America this autumn. The new model marks the 10th generation of the Accord and has been completely redesigned to offer new features. With a sporty design that has an increased width to keep total height low, the...
Nissan Makes Full-Fledged Effort to Increase EV Sales in China
Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (TYO:7201) has announced a full-fledged effort to increase its sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in China, developing new SUV and sedan EVs exclusively for the Chinese market. In addition to introducing these new EV models as Nissan brands in 2018, the company will also add local Chinese brand, Venucia, to its...
Toyota Launches Fully Redesigned Camry – First Time in Six Years
Toyota Motor Corp. (TYO:7203) launched a newly designed Camry in Japan on July 10, marking the first time in six years that the global midsize sedan has undergone a full redesign. Monthly sales have been set at a target of 2,400 units, around triple last year’s figure. While Toyota is particularly strong in the sedan...
New Design Head at Nissan Talks Aesthetics, Strategies
In an interview with Japan Automotive Daily on July 5, the senior vice president for global design at Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (TYO:7201), Alfonso Albaisa, said that Nissan aims to create a brand that is fresh, sharp and cool while incorporating human qualities and Japanese aesthetics. He said that as packages for electric vehicles (EVs)...
Volvo to Go Electric on All Car Models Starting in 2019
Swedish automaker Volvo Car Corp. recently announced that, starting in 2019, the company will no longer launch gas-only vehicles. The company’s entire lineup will be comprised of electric vehicles (EVs), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHVs) and hybrid vehicles (HVs). No new exclusively internal-combustion vehicles with gasoline or diesel engines will be released. At the present time,...
Volkswagen to Introduce Diesel Cars to Japan in 2017
Volkswagen board member Jurgen Stuckmann has revealed that the company plans to soon announce the introduction of a diesel vehicle to Japan. Speaking to Japan Automotive Daily and other media outlets on July 4, Stuckmann said that Volkswagen Group Japan KK is working on launching the company’s Passat with a diesel engine for sometime within...
Subaru Makes Major Safety System Upgrades to New Levorg, WRX S4 Models
Subaru Corp. (TYO:7270) announced on July 3 that it has made major upgrades in new models of the Levorg and WRX S4, with each of these set to be launched on July 8. For the first time, all variants of the Levorg and WRX S4 will feature the EyeSight safety system with Touring Assist as...
Suzuki Launches Initiatives to Maintain Top Share in India
Suzuki Motor Corp. (TYO:7269) plans on increasing its sales outlets in India by 30 percent from fiscal 2016, raising its number of showrooms to 3,000 by fiscal 2020, targeting sales of 2 million vehicles, a 40 percent increase. The automaker plans also to expand its number of service shops by 5,000 locations, an increase of...
Nissan Eyes Selling 1M Cars More in China, Plans to Build New Factory
Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (TYO:7201) will increase its automobile sales target in China by at least 1 million units under the company’s next medium-term business plan, running through March 31, 2023. In line with this, the company plans to build what would be its ninth Chinese plant. Nissan is aiming to increase its global market...
Nissan Aims for $6B Value From Three-Company Alliance
Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (TYO:7201) Chairman Carlos Ghosn announced at the company’s June 27 ordinary general meeting of shareholders that, with the addition of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (TYO:7211) to the Alliance between Nissan and Renault SA, the three companies will share 70 percent of their platforms by 2020. Ghosn said that the Alliance will allow...
Toyota Unveils All-New Lexus LS Featuring Advanced Safety System
Toyota Motor Corp. (TYO:7203) on June 26 debuted its all-new Lexus LS, slated to be launched in Japan this autumn. Toyota Senior Managing Officer Kiyotaka Ise said that the new Lexus LS was developed to be the safest vehicle in the world, and emphasized that it is intended to serve as a model of things...
Honda Moves Toward Domestic Procurement for New Chinese-Market EV
Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (TYO:7267) will begin locally procuring batteries and motors for an electric vehicle (EV) to be launched exclusively for the Chinese market in 2018. Thus far, Honda has supplied batteries and motors for hybrid vehicles (HVs) in China with exports from Japan. Utilizing the EV launch as an opportunity, however, the company...
Subaru to Equip Cars With Autonomous Driving Technology for Expressways This Summer
Subaru Corp. (TYO:7270) has developed autonomous driving technology that automatically controls the car’s accelerator, brakes and steering wheel for all speed ranges on expressways. The company will first employ this technology in the new Levorg and WRX S4 models that will launch this summer, eventually making it standard in almost all of the company’s vehicles....
Toyota Names Google and Apple as Rivals at Shareholder Meeting
Toyota Motor Corp. (TYO:7203) held its 113th annual general meeting of shareholders at the company’s headquarters in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture on June 14. The Japanese automaker’s president, Akio Toyoda, said the company will need to consider various options in the future, including M&A deals. He also said Toyota will take an aggressive stance to raise...
Porsche Japan to Introduce EV Model in 2020, Extend PHV Lineup
Porsche Japan KK will launch domestic sales of a new electric vehicle (EV) in 2020, with plans to add plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHVs) to its model lineup before then. By expanding its product lineup, the company is aiming to raise the ratio of EV and PHV sales volume to at least 10 percent of total...
