Along with things like baseball and celebrities, America is known for its cars. It might surprise you to learn then that in a newly compiled list of the top auto-producing nations, the U.S. of A. doesn’t place very highly. In fact, according to the European Automobile Manufacturer’s Association of a total 58,478,810 cars produced last year the U.S. ranks just 7th, responsible for assembling some 1.2 million cars.

As for the top spot, it might not surprise you to learn that the world’s most populous nation, China, ranks first, churning out some 13.9 million vehicles. In second place is Japan (8.3 million), then South Korea, Brazil and India.

If the European Union member states were to rate as a single country however, then they would finish in the top spot. Last year more than 15 million plus units, were produced in the EU.

Given this rather bizarre and perhaps biased survey (the list only includes cars, and not trucks, which America produces plenty of) it begs the question, with Europe currently in the economic doldrums and experiencing near record unemployment in some member states, who in the heck is buying all these cars?

[Source: Woman on Wheels]

Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said that the Japanese government’s effort to keep the yen’s value under control had failed and that Nissan was strongly considering moving production out of Japan and into foreign countries.

A weakened United States dollar has meant that the value of the greenback has shifted from 91 yen per dollar to 76 yen per dollar over the past two years. This unfavorable exchange range has led Nissan to examine other countries for vehicle production. ”We have to make investment decisions all the time,” Ghosn told Reuters. “This is one of the factors that we have to consider when we look at a project and say are we going to do it in Japan or are we going to do it in another country?”

Despite this, Ghosn said that he felt vehicle sales would rise in 2012 even in the face of another possible economic downturn. Ghosn also announced a new electric vehicle to be built in China for the Chinese market.

[Source: CNBC]

Toyota officially launched the all-new Camry last week, and Nissan took advantage of this situation in a very 21st century method of subterfuge.

When the sedan was unveiled, Toyota found that the word “Camry” had been acquired on social media service Twitter by rival Nissan North America. Anyone searching the Camry on Twitter during the launch, would receive a tweet regarding product news from Nissan.

Nissan took advantage of the fact that it knew Toyota would launch the Camry with special attention to Twitter. Nissan discovered that the key word Camry had not been locked up so it purchased what Twitter terms a “Promoted Tweet” allowing the automaker to acquire a selection of search terms for 24 hours that included “Camry”, “Toyota Camry” and “mid-sized car”.”Toyota blew it,” crowed one Nissan manager. “They simply didn’t protect their intellectual property.”

Nissan has become increasingly competitive especially against Toyota. U.S sales of the Altima are up more than 18 percent through July, compared to Toyota’s 8 percent Camry fall. The decline was primarily a result of inventory issues stemming from the March 11 earthquake. The Camry has been America’s top selling passenger car for 13 of the past 14 years. The Camry vastly outsells the Altima, but Nissan has been making up ground in recent years.

Check out our full review of the Camry here!

GALLERY: Toyota Camry

[Source: Automotive News]

Each market has its favorites when it comes to cars. People in the Middle-East prefer powerful SUV’s like the Mercedes-Benz G-class, while in America the pick-up truck reigns supreme, especially the Ford F-150.

In Japan, the most popular car is neither big, nor powerful, but it fills the needs of most of its motorists. Since 2003, the most popular car sold in Japan is the Suzuki Wagon R.

The Wagon R is a kei-class vehicle, which means it fits in Japan’s stringent “Kei” segment. Cars in this segment, the smallest road-legal cars available. Kei cars cannot have engines larger than 660 cc, can be no longer than 11.2 feet, should have a maximum width of 4.2 feet and cannot be taller than 6.6 feet.

Despite such restrictions, all major Japanese manufacturers offer cars in this segment. And just because they are small, don’t think they have skimmed on equipment either as all-wheel drive, turbocharged engines and all sorts of electronic gizmos are available.

Between the generous equipment levels, tax breaks and fuel savings these cars provide kei-cars have become wildly popular in Japan. According to “The Japan Mini Vehicle Association” more than 50% of the cars on Japanese roads are now kei-cars. Not only are these cars popular in city centers, but the survey reveals that even in rural areas people prefer smaller vehicles.

The least popular city for such cars is the metropolitan city of Tokyo, where only 11% of household owns kei-cars, while in Tottori Perfecture, 98% of households own kei-cars.

Since fuel prices and congestion in big cities is ever increasing in North America, would this trend catch on here? We highly doubt it.

[Source: Green Car Reports]

The perpetually-grinning, happy-go-lucky Mazda 3 will be getting a facelift for 2012. But will it still be so happy?

A new version of the Mazda 3 is already giggling down Japanese streets as the Mazda Axela. Its US model will make it over as early as October, with both employing the same Skyactiv 2.0-liter direct-injection gasoline engine and six-speed automatic transmission—the first car to combine Mazda’s new six-speed with Skyactiv technology.

Skyactiv is blowing up at Mazda lately, in fact: the Mazda 2 already has such an engine in Japan, and the upcoming CX-5 will feature it when it’s introduced in Frankfurt next month. So the Mazda 3 does have something to smile about.

[Source: Inside Line]

Toyota is eager to regain its “world’s largest automaker” title back. So by 2012, if things go according to plan, expect to see a lot more Toyota products on the roads: 8 million, to be specific.

This target is 1 million more than what Toyota will build this year. The company is gunning for this lofty production target in emerging markets like China and India, where sales are booming. To reach this goal, Toyota plans to build new factories in China and Brazil with the capacity to build 170,000 compact cars. It also plans to expand production in India by 50,000 vehicles, as well as expanding at other plants in China and Thailand.

America will get involved, too: a plant in Mississippi will open up in the fall, with a capacity of 150,000 vehicles. And back home in Japan, Toyota will increase daily production by 2-3,000 vehicles, to 15,000 per day. A new compact hybrid will comprise part of that production.

[Source: Nikkei via Morningstar]

For next year, Toyota will start offering AC electric outlets as an option on the Prius hybrid so drivers can plug in accessories or appliances to their car. Toyota developed the idea through the March 11 earthquake disaster in which people used the Toyota Estima hybrid van (pictured above) as a source of emergency electricity when the power went out.

Toyota eventually wants to add the AC outlet to the entire hybrid line, however the option will only be offered in Japan initially because of concerns regarding different voltages and safety regulations. Toyota demonstrated the option earlier today in the city of Sendai with the Prius was equipped with Japan’s standard 100-volt AC plug. The car was able to power appliances such as a fan, hotpot and refrigerator. Toyota officials noted that with one full tank of gasoline, the Prius can supply power at full output for two days.

[Source: Automotive News]

Back in the mid 1990′s, if you wanted to compete in the GT1 class at the LeMans 24-Hour race, you had to have a car that was nearly identical to a street-legal car. Hence all the manufacturers involved in this series starting producing limited-run racing cars with license plates. This formula gave birth to some of the most extreme road cars ever made, and this is why Porsche produced the 911 GT1 Straßenversion (Street Version).

As you can tell from its styling, this car is loosely based on the 996-model 911. However, apart from the doors, every body-panel has been reshaped. This car is much bigger and wider than any other 996.

While the Straßenversion had a detuned version of the 3.6-liter, twin-turbo race-motor, it still cranked out 540-hp. This example we have featured here, which is on sale in Kyoto, Japan is said to be tuned to produce 690-hp. This added power boost will enable this version to accelerate from 0-60 mph in just 3.3 seconds, and onto a top speed of 235 mph.

Only 25 examples of the Straßenversion were made, hence these rare machines demand serious price tags. This example here has an asking price of $1.7-million.

[Source: GT Spirit]

In 2009, Volkswagen, in its ever growing quest to become the largest automaker in the world, bought 20% of Suzuki for $2.5-billion. The partnership would have given VW insight into Suzuki’s small-car technology, a segment the Japanese auto-maker is very successful at in Japan. Suzuki on the other hand would have gained valuable knowledge on hybrid technology. It looked like a win-win for both sides, but things have been far from ideal between these two companies.

However, according to Suzuki’s Executive Vice-President Yasuhito Harayama, no progress has been made. In a statement, Harayama said, “It was made very clear when we tied up with Volkswagen that we did not want to become consolidated, and that we would remain independent.”

Harayama, who was previously a bureaucrat for Japans economy and trade ministry was hired by Suzuki two years ago. He went on to say, “We feel we need to return to the starting point, including over the ownership ratio. The understanding that we are independent companies, and equal partners, is the absolute prerequisite in pursuing any specific cooperation.”

He feels that VW was just looking to take control over Suzuki, and that it was not any kind of partnership. As part of their cross-shareholding partnership, Suzuki has also been buying shares in VW.

Hans Demant, the man in charge of the alliance between VW and Suzuki is trying to calm the storm between these two companies. He said, “Volkswagen and Suzuki are and will remain two independent companies. No increase of Volkswagen’s Suzuki stake has been agreed upon.”

VW also said that they would not encroach on Suzuki’s autonomy. In a back-handed remark, Osamu Suzuki, the CEO of this Japanese brand congratulated VW on developing a low cost car for India and South America, without Suzuki’s help.

Suzuki last month signed a deal with Fiat, to purchase their 1.6-liter diesel engines, for a car to be built in Hungary. Both Suzuki and Harayama said this proves that Suzuki does not need the help of VW to expand and move forward.

[Source: Reuters, The Economic Times]

If you live in America, it’s hard to imagine what it’s like to still favor Yahoo over Google. Over the recent years, Google has evolved from a search engine service to providing free email, navigation, maps, operating systems, image hosting, social networks…you get the picture. The technology that Google has created is, for the most part, beneficial to human kind, though some question the comapny’s practices of privacy and security.

Case in point, the residents of Japan weren’t very fond of Google’s Street View vehicles prowling their streets, snapping up photos and peeking into their homes. But now Google has found a more beneficial way of utilizing their Street View vehicles, aiding in Japan’s recovery efforts after their disastrous earthquake and tsunami.

Google has repurposed its Street View vehicles in Japan to help document the damage done and the reconstruction efforts that are being made to rebuild the devastated areas. And even though there are still plenty of skeptics on why Google is doing what they’re doing in Japan, there’s no denying that they’ve used the technologies they’ve developed to lend a huge hand in Japan’s recovery efforts.

[Source: PC World]

Honda’s best selling car in Japan for the first half of 2011 was the Fit compact, helped by the addition of a fuel-efficient hybrid model released in October.

During the time period, 88,282 Fit cars were sold, interestingly sales figures dropped 2.1 percent compared to the same period last year because of disruptions caused by the March 11 earthquake. Honda released a van model of the Fit in June, known as the Fit Shuttle.

The Toyota Prius came in second place in Japan regarding sales for the first half of 2011. In total, 83,319 Prius’ were sold in the first six months of 2011 but, this figure represents half of what was sold in the same period last year. Sales were affected by severe damage to the Miyagi Prefecture in Japan that makes nickel-hydrogen battery cells for the Prius.

[Source: Yomiuri]

Japan’s wealthy elite brought out their wallets this past weekend for a more than worthy cause; rebuilding the country they call home. At an event hosted by Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo and attended by Italian ambassador Vincenzo Petrone and Japanese Minister of Industry Banri Kaieda, a total of $724,000 was raised to help the disaster relief efforts in Japan.

With numerous items up for bidding at the auction, the big ticket item was the first Ferrari FF to be sold in the country, which went to Tokyo architect Masaharu Seno.

Held in the city of Ishinomaki, and attended by its mayor, the proceeds from the auction will be used to held build a new school for the children in the devastated city.

Mitsubishi is becoming much more aggressive regarding future EV sales in its home market of Japan. Currently Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV sells for 3.98 million yen which equals $49,200. Government subsidies bring the price down a million yen equalling $36,900. The i-MiEV’s chief rival, the Nissan Leaf costs 3.76 million yen which equals $46,500 before subsidies and is the more popular choice compared to the Mitsubishi.

However, Mitsubishi will slash a million yen off the i-MiEV’s retail price to improve sales, bringing down the price to around 2 million yen or $24,700. The big savings are coming from a smaller battery. The existing model was good for 160 km (100 miles) per battery charge whereas the new model can only travel 120 km (75 miles). The Leaf can achieve only 100 miles per charge.

Prices in the United States are much cheaper, with the 2012 i-MiEV selling for $27,990 before the Federal $7,500 EV tax credit and state incentives. California and Hawaii go a step further with rebates, and in EV can be picked up for as low as $15,500 in these locales.

[Source: The Truth About Cars]

Nissan has launched a global proving test program for their compact electric commercial vehicle NV200.

The Japanese automaker began the test with Japan Post Service. The postal service will be provided with the NV200 to carry out postal collection for two months in Yokohama. The vehicle will be tested in real world conditions to help fine tune small aspects of the NV200. Testing will begin soon in Europe with the vehicle as well.

The testing on this vehicle is vital as it will serve as the next generation New York taxi. The vehicle has been present in Japan and European markets since 2009 and the van has won numerous awards.

“The role that can be played by zero emissions vehicles in promoting a balance between economic growth and environmental protection in the realm of logistics is large” said Nissan Corporate Vice President Hideto Murakami, who is responsible for the Global LCV Business Unit. “We will certainly reflect the customer feedback gained from these proving tests in our future product development, and I expect that our commercial electric vehicles based on the NV200 will contribute to our customers’ business and to the development of a sustainable society”.

Mazda has officially announced that the assembly plants in Japan are back to normal operational levels. The Japanese automaker predicts that it will be able to achieve a domestic production volume of 900,000 units during the current fiscal year (April 2011- March 2012). The company is also predicting sales revenue of 2.19 trillion yen based on a global sales target of 1.305 million units during the current fiscal year.

David Klan, Senior Director of Sales, Marketing & Regional Operations at Mazda Canada Inc said:“Our return to normal production in Japan testifies to the courage and ingenuity of the Japanese people and our colleagues there,”. He also explained that, “This puts us in a strong position to sustain and grow our business in Canada, recognizing both the great line-up we have in showrooms today, and also the superb new vehicles coming with SKYACTIV Technology.”

Yu Muroga was driving along peacefully in Japan when the earthquake and tsunami hit. We’re not quite sure why he had a HD camera running on the dashboard, but we’re certainly amazed by the footage it captured.

Even though the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit Japan needs no real introduction, very few videos have surfaced that showed the incident from this point-of-view. In fact, watching the video is a pretty surreal experience, something you’d expect out of a Hollywood blockbuster.

It starts off with an unsuspecting in-car point-of-view as the earthquake rocks the earth. It’s worth mentioning that the footage probably didn’t capture the huge one, but rather one of the aftershocks before the actual tsunami came. As the car pushed on to wherever it was trying to head to, the tsunami hits and flooding occurs. From there it’s heartbreaking to see people getting stuck in their cars or climbing to the roofs of their cars seeking refuge from the oncoming flood. It’s really something else to see cars floating around in a sea of water helplessly and how devastating the events were in Japan over three months ago.

Check out the video after the break. Continue Reading…

Ford is looking to increase its popularity in the Japanese market with a special edition Mustang V6 Sport Appearance. Production for this special edition Japanese Mustang will be limited to 50 units total, 25 going to the coupe and 25 for the convertible. The Sport Appearance Mustang mainly consists of accessories, leaving the 3.7L V6 power plant untouched at 309-hp and 279 ft-lbs of torque.

The V6 Sport Appearance will be available in two special colors, Performance White and Grabber Blue. Both of the colors come with special pin stripes on the side and on the hood scoop. In addition, a rear trunk spoiler is added to give the Mustang a sportier appearance (we’re not making this up) while the 18-inch chrome wheels find their way home with 235/50/18 rubber. On the inside, the special edition Mustang will sport leather interior.

Based on today’s conversation rates, the special edition coupe will run $54,250 while the convertible is $63,000.

GALLERY: Japan’s Special Edition Ford Mustang V6 Sport Appearance

Toyota and Honda plan to hire as many as 5,000 temporary workers in Japan for the first time in more than a year as the automotive industry recovers from the March 11 earthquake.

Toyota will be hiring between 3,000 and 4,000 temporary workers from mid-July as the company plans to increase production in October.

This is great news considering Japanese carmakers’ domestic production dropeed 60 percent in April as Toyota’s output in the country plunged 78 percent.

Honda will be hiring 1,000 temporary workers as the company plans to resume normal production numbers as well.

Toyota’s plants suffered a 50-percent production decline in April and May but are running at 90 percent capacity this month. The plan is to reach 100 percent of planned production levels by July.

“Hiring temporary workers shows that the problem with parts supply is being resolved and that the industry is on a solid recovery path,” explained Takeshi Miyao an analyst at the consulting company Carnorama in Tokyo. “There are a lot of back orders and without these additional workers, they won’t be able to catch up fast enough.”

Nissan has also begun hiring around 200 temporary workers to help restore normal production levels.

[Source: Automotive News]

German driver Andre Lotterer will be racing one of two Lexus LFAs that will compete in this weekend’s race, marking the fourth consecutive year that the Japanese supercar is competing in the Nurburgring 24 Hours endurance race.

Lotterer just won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the number 2 Audi R18 TDI and has also successfully driven for Toyota and Lexus in the Japanese Formula Nippon and Super GT Champtionship. He will be racing in the number 119 car with Juichi Wakisaka and Takayuki Kinoshita.

The body and chassis of the LFA race cars are almost completely stock putting them at a significant weight disadvantage to many of the other race cars competing. However, Lexus is hoping to take a class victory as well as a top-10 overall position in the race. The LFA finished top in its class last year, but the two previous years it didn’t finish the race.

The Nurburgring 24 Hours endurance race starts on June 25th.

[Source: Motor Authority]

Marking the 20th anniversary of Mazda‘s victory in the world’s most demanding endurance race, the 24 Hour of Le Mans, Mazda has brought the winning Mazda 787B back from the dead.

Mazda’s 787B made history in 1991 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans by becoming the first Japanese car to win the event. It’s victory lap was also its last as after 1991, rotary engines could not participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Jonny Herbert, who was behind the wheel 20 years ago, donned his nomex and racing helmet once again to hit the track. Mazda racer and TV star Patrick Dempsey also got a chance behind the wheel. Watch videos of the outing, plus an overview video of the 787B car’s 20th anniversary celebration after the jump!

Continue Reading…

The all new stylish 2012 Toyota Vitz model, sold here as the Yaris, appears to have new photos, that is if these pics from a Hungarian Toyota dealership’s Facebook page are anything to go by.

In an age where fuel economy is a major selling aspect, the subcompact B-segment is more important than ever, and the new Yaris fits the description.

The new Yaris functionally has gained some size. In total, the Yaris grows 100mm from end to end, with half of that between the wheelbase for more interior room. The car has also grown 20mm shorter overall, probably to lower the center of gravity and improve handling. The new model in Japan has a range of small four cylinder engines, but we should expect a 1.5L version as the sole option.

Stay tuned for more details!

GALLERY: 2012 Toyota Yaris

[Source: Autoblog]