japanese cars
2013 Acura ILX Hides its Civic Roots Well: 2012 Chicago Auto Show
2
On the eve of the Chicago Auto Show, Acura has revealed the newest addition to its lineup, the ILX. A compact premium model, it shares its chassis and powertrains with the Civic, though little else. Looking nothing like a Civic, with a sleek Acura design, it’s actually significantly larger, measuring 2-inches more end-to-end and almost…
Toyota’s Spams Twitter in Latest Social Media Campaign
Toyota wasn’t kidding when it called The Camry Effect “one of the most ambitious social media campaigns we’ve ever implemented.” In the days leading up to the super bowl, Twitter users were spammed by a whole army of Toyota’s verified Twitter accounts. Users who tweeted anything in regards to the big game, especially with hashtags…
Win a Camry by Watching Toyota’s “Connections” Super Bowl Ad
Toyota has launched a new social media initiative with a chance for participants to win a brand new 2012 Camry for themselves and one more for a friend. The opportunity will come tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 5, during a live NBC broadcast – we’re presuming Toyota means the Super Bowl, but the oddly worded press release…
Honda Civic Hatch to Enter European WTCC
Increasing motorsports exposure, Honda announced its plans to enter its newly redesigned European 2012 Honda Civic into the 2012 FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC). According to Honda CEO Takanobu Ito, this entry entails creating an all-new engine developed specifically for touring car competition. “We have made a decision to enter into the WTCC with…
Toyota Corolla Now the Best Selling Vehicle of All Time
The Toyota Corolla has long been the best-selling car of all time, but now it holds an even more impressive title: the world’s best selling vehicle. That may sound the same at first, but the “vehicle” list includes trucks, of which Ford has been selling plenty since it first introduced the F-Series line of trucks…
2012 Toyota Camry Sales Jump Significantly
In a January 2012 sales conference call, Toyota division group vice president and general manager Bob Carter reported some surprising results. Recovering from its mid-2011 slump, Toyota sold 124,540 units from its Toyota, Lexus and Scion divisions. Those sales translate to a 7.5 percent increase over last January. Toyota enjoyed a 9 percent increase in sales…
Toyota GT 86 Could Get Porsche Engine
The Toyota GT 86, or Scion FR-S as it will be called in North America, isn’t available yet, but it’s already generating tuner buzz. We were satisfied with the stock 200-horsepower boxer engine during our review in December, but that’s not quite enough power for some of the folks in the hachi-roku forums. Tetsuya Tada, the car’s chief…
Honda Ridgeline Recalled for Spare Tire/Tire Information Placard Mismatch
Honda has announced a recall in the United States for 206 Ridgeline trucks built from 2011 through 2012. This recall is to address a possible mismatch between the Ridgeline’s spare tire and the FMVSS mandated tire information placard installed on the vehicles’ driver-side doorjambs. Honda Ridgeline trucks sold in the United States are fitted with…
Infiniti Emerg-E Plug-in Hybrid Sports Car to Get Mid-Engine Layout
Infiniti has announced that its upcoming plug-in hybrid sports car concept will be called the Emerge-E. Using a gasoline range-extended to add power and range to an electric powertrain, this will be the first such system used in an Infiniti product. The “advanced sports car concept” will also be the first Infiniti to use a…
Suzuki Announces 2012 Geneva Auto Show Display
Suzuki is starting to promote its display at next month’s Geneva Auto Show, which will feature two new cars aimed at reducing their owner’s carbon footprint. While both vehicles are designed for efficiency, they use different means to achieve that end. The Swift Range Extender goes about this with a strategy similar to the Chevy Volt…
Toyota Prius c Pricing Starts at $18,950
At its unveiling at the Detroit Auto Show, Toyota promised that the new Prius c would be priced below the $19,000 mark. Full pricing info has yet to be released but a Toyota representative speaking at the car’s launch in San Diego this week has informed us that the sub-compact hybrid will come with a…
First Production Toyota 2000GT Up For Sale
The genesis of the Japanese supercar, the 1967 Toyota 2000GT is the first All-Japanese limited-production sports car to gain international recognition, changing impressions of the Japanese auto industry overnight. Without a true successor until Lexus presented its LF-A supercar more than four decades later, the 2000GT is a rare beauty and opportunities to find such…
Lawsuit Demands NHTSA Disclose Records From Toyota Investigation
After almost a year since regulators closed Toyota’s unintended acceleration investigation, independent auto-safety firm Safety Research and Strategies announced Tuesday that a lawsuit has been filed in federal court requesting for the government to release internal records of said investigation. According to Safety Research and Strategies, there is reason to believe that the National Highway…
Nissan Builds New $2.0 Billion Manufacturing Complex in Mexico
Of the major Japanese Automakers, Nissan Motors has been one of the least affected by natural disasters and the strengthening yen, effectively minimizing exposure to regional risks by erecting facilities overseas. Nissan has announced plans to build another manufacturing complex in Aguascalientes, Mexico, to expand North American production. An investment worth $2.0 billion USD, the…
Japan Pricing For Toyota GT-86 Announced, Starts At $25,600
Autoguide had an opportunity to test drive the Scion FR-S almost two months ago and was immediately impressed with the new sports car’s handling and performance. Featuring a direct-injection 2.0L 4-cylinder boxer engine producing 200 hp at 7000 rpm and 151 lb-ft of torque at 6600 rpm, possessing a low center of gravity as well as…
2013 Mazda6 Mule Caught Testing Skyactive Technologies [Spy Photos]
Out photographers have snapped several spy photos of the upcoming Mazda6 undergoing testing in the frozen European north. Underneath this current-generation body there’s plenty of new equipment to evaluate, from an all-new Skyactiv chassis and suspension system, right down to the engine and a start-stop system mated to an innovative regenerative braking system. The next-gen…
Honda Fit B-Spec Racing Suspension Kit Available February
The Sports Car Club of America’s B-Spec class is growing in popularity as enthusiasts enjoy a relatively inexpensive entry into amateur racing while automakers are discovering B-Spec to be a great platform for grassroots motorsport marketing. Honda, one of the early adopters to B-Spec racing, is committed to the series and hopes to gain even…
Infiniti JX Will be Company’s Second-Best Seller Says Brand VP
Infinti is pointing their cross hairs squarely at the Japanese luxury crossover market, hoping that their new JX will be a hot seller capable of boosting the brand, but there could be an arduous road ahead. Their biggest competition: the Acura MDX and Lexus RX crossovers are their brand`s top sellers, meaning Infiniti will have to…
Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 Now Available to Order for $388,000
Nissan Motorsports International (NISMO) has made the release of the GT3-spec GT-R official, pricing it at around $388,000 based on today’s conversion rates. A joint project between NISMO and JR Motorsports (JRM), the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 packs a 3.8L V6, twin-turbo powerplant that is seen in the factory production model, but pumps out 523-hp….
2013 Ford Fusion Aims For Quality First, Sales Records Second
There`s an understanding in business that selling a lot means selling cheap. Unless you have a monopoly on the water supply, sales numbers don`t hit astronomical heights without stepping into volume pricing territory. Toyota spent the last decade worshiping that philosophy and consequently kept the Camry on top. Given the Japanese automaker’s decade of domination, it…
Mazda Diesel to Arrive in Early 2013
Those eagerly awaiting the launch of a diesel Mazda finally have some solid news about the oil-burner’s arrival in the U.S. According to the latest reports, Mazda is planning to have its diesel model on sale in early 2013 – just around 12 months away. The arrival date of the new Skyactiv-D powered Japanese car…
Toyota Yaris Hybrid Revealed: Geneva Motor Show Preview
Closing in on a year since the reveal of the Yaris HSD Concept at the Geneva Motor Show, Toyota has released the first production images of the gasoline-electric sub-compact. Sporting the front-end of the FCV-R hydrogen fuel cell concept, the Yaris Hybrid is powered by the same Hybrid Synergy Drive engine-motor combination as found in…
Infiniti JX Named to “Smartest Family Cars of 2012” List by Parenting Magazine
In Parenting Magazine‘s first “Genius” issue, a new magazine committed to helping parents find ways to best help their children unlock their “genius” potential, the all-new Infiniti JX SUV was chosen as one of the “Smartest Family Cars Of 2012.” Editorial Director for the Parenting Group Ana Connery said, “By recognizing today’s smartest cars, Parenting…
2013 Nissan GT-R Pricing Announced
Nissan has announced its new U.S. pricing for the revised 2013 GT-R sports car. At $96,820 USD for the GT-R Premium and $106,320 USD for the Black Edition, the new 2013 model year gains a horsepower boost from 530-hp to 545-hp, while torque increases from 448 lb-ft to 463 lb-ft. To handle the increase in…
