japan
Toyota Targets 8 Million Cars Built In 2012
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…
Toyota To Offer AC Electric Outlets On Japanese Market Prius Models
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…
Rare Porsche 911 GT1 For Sale In Japan
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…
Partnership Between Volkswagen And Suzuki Goes Sour
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…
Driver Captures March 11 Tsunami From Inside Car [Video]
A fearless driver captured footage of the March 11 tsunami from inside his car. Yu Muroga was driving to work the morning of the March 11 disaster, when he filmed the destruction on the city streets. Some drivers made a run for it while other drivers stayed inside. There was likely a higher probability of…
Google Street View Vehicles Lending A Hand For Japan Disaster Relief
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…
Honda’s Fit Was The Best-Selling Car in Japan For 1st Half Of 2011
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…
Ferrari Auction Nets $724,000 for Dissaster Relief in Japan
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…
Mitsubishi Slashes EV Price To Increase Sales
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…
Nissan Begins Global Proving Tests For NV200 Based Electric Vehicles
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…
Mazda Is Back To Normal Production Levels After Earthquake Disaster
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…
Watch Japan’s Earthquake And Tsunami From A Car’s Point Of View [Video]
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…
Five Nissan Skylines Impounded After Posting Street Race on YouTube
Police have impounded five high performance Nissan Skyline’s after a YouTube video was shot of six cars racing through Adelaide’s Heysen Tunnel in Southern Australia. The sixth car involved was a light-coloured Skyline, and is still at large, but police are confident they will find the driver. The five men arrested, aged 21 to 34…
Special Edition Mustang V6 Sport Appearance Revealed… for Japan?
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…
Toyota And Honda Plan To Hire 5,000 Workers As Japan’s Industry Recovers
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…
Le Mans Winner André Lotterer Racing Lexus LFA At Nurburgring 24 Hours Race
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…
Mazda 787B Returns To Le Mans After 20 Years [Video]
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…
The New Toyota Yaris? Yes? No? Maybe So?
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…
VW’s Rearview Cameras No Longer Available Because Of Earthquake
The Japanese Earthquake disaster of March 11, 2011, has wreaked havoc all around the world and has affected Volkswagen by interrupting supply of their backup cameras. Consumers that want a rear view camera fitted to their VW may have to wait for shipments to resume. The VW models affected include the CC Lux Plus, Lux…
Mazda6 To Be Built In Japan
Mazda will shift production of their mid-size Mazda6 from the current AutoAlliance International plant (a joint venture with former owner Ford) to Mazda’s facility in Hofu, Japan. “Currently, production of the Mazda6 [known as Atenza in Japan] exists in three locations,” said Takashi Yamanouchi, Representative Director and Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Mazda Motor…
Suzuki WagonR Is Japan’s Best Selling Car In May
In North America, Suzuki does very well as a motorcycle brand, but when it comes to cars, hardly anybody buys them. Many believe, that if Suzuki one day decides to abandon selling cars on this continent, no one will miss it. In Japan however, it is a different story. Suzuki cars are still very popular…
Mazda Marks Production Of 3 Million Mazda3 Compacts
Mazda announced today they have reached a production milestone of three million Mazda3 units as of April 26, 2011. The car is built in three factories (Japan, China, Thailand) and sold in roughly 90 countries and regions. In North America alone, over 1.1 million Mazda3s have been sold, becoming the fastest-selling model in Mazda’s…
Honda’s North American Production Returns To 100 Percent In August
North American Honda production will return to normal in August, earlier than expected, the company announced in a statement today. The Japanese automaker has accelerated their recovery following the March 11th earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Every Honda model will resume regualar production in August, except the 2012 Civic. The company expects full production…
Honda Fit Shuttle Wagon to Launch This June
Honda has scheduled the June 16 release of its all new Fit Shuttle. The new station-wagon-like variant of the popular Fit subcompact will be offered with both a regular 4-cylinder engine or a hybrid version, the Nikkei business daily reported. Increased production at the Suzuka factory in Mie Prefecture began in early May and has progressed enough…
