Tag - carmakers

 
 

CARMAKERS

Earl Stewart, a Toyota dealer, says he was shocked when he first heard about Toyota’s strategy.
BUSINESS
Mar 13, 2024
Toyota’s hybrid-first strategy is delivering big profits
Toyota’s sales are booming, and the company is reporting huge profits.
Zensho Holdings, the operator of Sukiya and other restaurant chains, will raise salaries of regular employees by 12.2% on average.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 12, 2024
Japan firms across sectors offer pay hikes of up to 12% in spring talks
Early wage deals with unions reflect a recovery in earnings from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a sense of crisis over labor shortages.
A DJI drone emerges from the casing on top of a BYD Yangwang U8 vehicle.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 11, 2024
China EV makers woo buyers with in-car beds, kitchens and drones
Top EV makers are facing a slowdown in demand at home as consumers curb spending.
Nissan expects kei EV sales to expand, as kei cars are relatively inexpensive compared to regular cars and their size makes them suitable for short-distance trips.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 8, 2024
Nissan may bring ultra-compact EV production in-house from 2028, sources say
The automaker is considering moving production to its factory in Kyushu in the business year starting April 2028.
Vehicles on display at a Toyota car dealership in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 6, 2024
Toyota ups its bet on hybrids in Brazil with $2.2 billion plan
The firm will expand production capacity in Latin America’s largest economy for models that use hybrid-flex fuel technology.
The Fair Trade Commission will demand Nissan take measures to prevent a recurrence of unfair reductions in payments to subcontracting auto parts makers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 4, 2024
Japan FTC to warn Nissan over payments to parts suppliers
The reductions are estimated to total about ¥3 billion for more than 30 suppliers over the past several years.
The assembly line at a production facility for Nio, a maker of electric cars, in Hefei, China, on Dec. 4. U.S. President Joe Biden has ordered an investigation into auto software that could track U.S. drivers, part of a broader effort to stop electric vehicle imports from China.
BUSINESS / Tech / ANALYSIS
Mar 2, 2024
The politics and economics behind Biden's China car espionage probe
The U.S. leader's saber-rattling as another opportunity to demonstrate he is tough on China, experts say.
Daihatsu saw its sales fall by about 60% in January amid a scandal over fraudulent testing.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2024
Japan auto sales down almost 20% in February
The decline reflected the effects of certification test scandals, with new vehicle sales at Daihatsu down roughly 80% and those at Toyota down about 30%.
The revamped BYD Atto 3 in Tokyo. A perceived resistance in Japan to battery EVs and foreign brands is seen as a major barrier for BYD.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 1, 2024
BYD bolsters Japan push with EV lineup and dealership network
The Chinese carmaker has sold less than 1,500 passenger cars in 2023 in the Japanese market, which is dominated by hybrids.
A Honda CR-V e:FCEV on display at H2 & FC Expo in Tokyo on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 28, 2024
Honda to sell plug-in hydrogen vehicle in North America, Japan
Japan's second-largest carmaker hopes to ease drivers’ anxiety over finding hydrogen stations by adding electric recharging capabilities.
Toyota's domestic sales for January fell for the first time in 13 months as a data-rigging scandal at its small-car unit Daihatsu led to a production halt of some Toyota brand cars the unit made.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 28, 2024
Toyota Group sales lose steam amid fallout from test data scandals
Domestic sales for January fell for the first time in 13 months while worldwide production fell 3.8%, the first global decline in 13 months.
Nissan is planning an autonomous vehicle ride-share service for Japan with a 2027 launch date to address a lack of taxi drivers due to the nation’s aging population.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 28, 2024
Nissan plans 2027 driverless ride-share service for aging Japan
Nissan will trial the service in Yokohama's Minato Mirai area, with 20 vehicles equipped with a safety monitor in each driver’s seat.
Brooklyn-based startup HEVO is working with other firms to develop wireless EV charging systems.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 22, 2024
Wireless charging for electric cars is inching closer to reality
Major hurdles include slow charging speeds and the money and interest needed to build stations and get more carmakers on board.
Volkswagen ID.3 and Cupra Born electric cars on the production line at the company’s plant in Zwickau, Germany.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 21, 2024
Europe is being forced to reboot its car industry
Unless they can get strategies back on track, Europe’s automakers risk falling further behind China and Tesla
Mining magnate Dan Gertler in Congo in 2012
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 20, 2024
China's dominance of EV metals prompts U.S. to revisit stockpile 'panic button'
Budget cuts have shrunk U.S. strategic reserves to record lows, leaving it facing shortages of the raw materials needed to execute an energy transition.
Nissan's Ariya electric crossover sport utility vehicle assembled by robots at the company's plant in Kaminokawa, Tochigi Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2024
Japan carmakers forge ahead with EV investments despite slowdown
Outside of Japan, signs of a scaling back are everywhere, with the exception of China.
Shoppers walk past an ID Hub, a Volkswagen showroom for electric cars, at a mall in Shanghai on Dec. 3, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2024
Firms with deep roots in China reconsider their Xinjiang ties
Volkswagen Group is reviewing the future of its joint venture in the Xinjiang region of northwestern China
Volkswagen has long come under scrutiny over its factory in Urumqi in Xinjiang, which opened in 2013.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2024
Pressure mounts on Volkswagen to exit China's Xinjiang region
The carmaker said it was discussing the future of its activities in the region, following fresh allegations of human rights abuses.
Labor unions at Toyota and other carmakers are seeking record pay increases in this year's spring wage negotiations.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2024
Major auto firm unions request record pay hikes ahead of annual talks
Whether major automakers fully accept unions' demands for a second consecutive year is set to be in focus after the prime minister called for wage hikes.
Masahiro Inoue, incoming chief executive officer of Daihatsu Motor, during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 13, 2024
Toyota replaces Daihatsu chief after safety scandal
Masahiro Inoue, the CEO of Toyota Latin America, will replace Soichiro Okudaira effective March 1.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?