Toyoda names the non-Toyotas he likes best

Posted 2:43 pm U.S. ET, May 17
Toyota President Akio Toyoda, pictured in October, is hard pressed to single out individual cars as his favorites -- be they his company’s or not.
TOKYO -- In a rare outburst of convivial kudos, car buff and Toyota President Akio Toyoda has publicly aired his short list of the top cars made by his domestic rivals.
Getting highest honors from the Toyota chief: the Nissan Skyline, Honda NSX, Mazda Cosmo Sport, Mitsubishi Pajero and Isuzu Bellett.
Toyoda sai ...
     Continue reading "Toyoda names the non-Toyotas he likes best" » May 17, 2012 2:43 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Toyota teases new styling at Beijing auto show

Posted 10:54 pm U.S. ET, April 22
BEIJING -- Toyota Motor Corp. unveiled a trio of concept cars at the Beijing show that tease a future front nose and grille styling that is arrow-like and sleek.
The concepts all take the pointy-nosed looks of the NS4 concept, which debuted in Detroit, one step further.
The China show concepts include the Yundo ...
     Continue reading "Toyota teases new styling at Beijing auto show" » Apr 22, 2012 10:54 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Japan's industry gets auto royalty in new spokesman with Akio Toyoda

Posted 12:48 pm U.S. ET, March 24
TOKYO -- Japan's auto industry association has tapped an unlikely -- but increasingly well-suited -- CEO to be its next chairman as the country's beleaguered carmakers battle falling sales at home and the hollowing out of their factories.
Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota Motor Corp. and grandson of the company's founder, is scheduled to take over i ...
     Continue reading "Japan's industry gets auto royalty in new spokesman with Akio Toyoda" » Mar 24, 2012 12:48 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Nissan enters stock car racing in Australia, what about here?

Posted 3:07 pm U.S. ET, Feb. 15
TOKYO -- Nissan Motor Co. is off to the stock car races. In Australia, at least.
This month, the Japanese carmaker said it will field four cars in the county’s V8 Supercar Championship starting in 2013.
For those not familiar with the series, it’s Down Under’s equivalent to NASCAR. And until N ...
     Continue reading "Nissan enters stock car racing in Australia, what about here?" » Feb 15, 2012 3:07 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Toyota -- both reinvented and reborn – searches for new life

Posted 10:32 am U.S. ET, Jan. 31
TOKYO -– Recent ad campaigns for Toyota clearly show a company yearning for new life.
Its planned return to Super Bowl advertising on Sunday carries the theme of reinvention. The idea: Toyota has r ...
     Continue reading "Toyota -- both reinvented and reborn – searches for new life" » Jan 31, 2012 10:32 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Toyota’s 'lifetime employment' takes hit with Australian layoffs

Posted 9:56 am U.S. ET, Jan. 30
TOKYO -- One of the central myths to Toyota’s way of business -- indeed most Japanese automakers’ public image -- is the idea of lifetime employment.
Once workers are inside the corporate tent, it is hard, if not impossible, to kick them out.
But the concept seems to apply better at home in Japan th ...
     Continue reading "Toyota’s 'lifetime employment' takes hit with Australian layoffs" » Jan 30, 2012 9:56 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Tokyo show finds its feet after forgettable 2009

Posted 12:12 pm U.S. ET, Dec. 14
TOKYO -- The beleaguered Tokyo Motor Show staged a comeback of sorts this year.
When its doors closed Dec. 11, the one-time pre-eminent Asia auto exhibition had played host to 842,600 visitors -- a 37 percent surge in attendance from the last show in 2009.
What's more, the figure bounced back to the pre-financi ...
     Continue reading "Tokyo show finds its feet after forgettable 2009" » Dec 14, 2011 12:12 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Does Subaru BRZ carry stealth Toyota marketing message?

Posted 6:01 pm U.S. ET, Dec. 5
TOKYO -- Does Subaru have a stealth marketing problem embedded in its BRZ sporty coupe?
The new car is the Subaru sibling of the Toyota 86/Scion FR-S. The companies developed the cars jointly, and except for some badging and front fascia differences, they are essentially clones.
Subaru engineers handled the dri ...
     Continue reading "Does Subaru BRZ carry stealth Toyota marketing message?" » Dec 5, 2011 6:01 pm U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Could go-go Akio be Japan's next rock star CEO?

Posted 11:53 am U.S. ET, Nov. 28
TOKYO -- Not long ago, Nissan's foreign-born CEO, Carlos Ghosn, was a Japanese sensation.
The charismatic leader swooped in to save a national icon from bankruptcy. And he soon was hailed the rock star CEO by a doting public and glorified as the hero in a comic book series.
Now Akio Toyoda -- president of rival ...
     Continue reading "Could go-go Akio be Japan's next rock star CEO?" » Nov 28, 2011 11:53 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Two roads to redemption for Mazda’s doomed rotary engine

Posted 11:26 am U.S. ET, Oct. 31
TOKYO -- Mazda is killing production of its famed rotary engine when the last RX-8 sports car rolls out of the plant next summer. But the company eyes two roads to resurrection.
The first is using an improved engine as the main power plant. The second is using a rotary engine as an onboard generator for an extended-range electric vehicle similar to ...
     Continue reading "Two roads to redemption for Mazda’s doomed rotary engine" » Oct 31, 2011 11:26 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Ghosn: Yen hurting Nissan more than earthquake

Posted 9:59 am U.S. ET, Oct. 24
YOKOHAMA, Japan -- What's hurting Nissan more than weeks of lost production, millions of dollars in factory damage and a shattered supply chain from Japan's spring earthquake?
CEO Carlos Ghosn says the yen's surge against the dollar is even more painful than the months of chaos triggered by the record 9.0-magnitude temblor and killer tsunami of Mar ...
     Continue reading "Ghosn: Yen hurting Nissan more than earthquake" » Oct 24, 2011 9:59 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Renault-Nissan alliance has big goals for gender diversity

Posted 11:09 am U.S. ET, Oct. 19
TOKYO -- The Renault-Nissan alliance is touting its class-leading gender diversity in the male-dominated auto industry -- thanks especially to the partnership’s French business side.
The group sponsored last week’s global meeting of the Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society in Deauville, France. And it released a surprising ...
     Continue reading "Renault-Nissan alliance has big goals for gender diversity" » Oct 19, 2011 11:09 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Auto industry's huge cash cushion helps insulate against double dip

Posted 12:01 am U.S. ET, Oct. 12
TOKYO -- Worried about an economic double dip and more massive hurt for the auto industry?
Don't. Thanks to huge cash cushions, the world's automakers are much better prepared for a downturn than they were in 2008, say the analysts at IHS Automotive.
Car companies are holding a quarter-trillion dollars in cash ...
     Continue reading "Auto industry's huge cash cushion helps insulate against double dip" » Oct 12, 2011 12:01 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Auto industry’s huge cash cushion helps insulate against double dip

Posted 9:20 am U.S. ET, Oct. 10
TOKYO -- Worried about an economic double dip and more massive hurt for the auto industry?
Don’t. Thanks to huge cash cushions, the world’s automakers are much better prepared for a downturn than they were in 2008, say the analysts at IHS Automotive.
Car companies are holding a quarter-trillion doll ...
     Continue reading "Auto industry’s huge cash cushion helps insulate against double dip" » Oct 10, 2011 9:20 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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The 6 big hurdles facing Japan's automakers

Posted 8:31 am U.S. ET, Sept. 5
TOKYO -- Time was when "endaka" -- the Japanese term for the yen's export-scalping appreciation against the dollar -- was the biggest boogeyman facing this country's automakers.
But there is a new buzzword on the lips of every executive these days -- and one more fitting of the turbulent times: Rokujyuku (pronounced "row-koo-joo-koo").
Continue reading "The 6 big hurdles facing Japan's automakers" » Sep 5, 2011 8:31 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Honda’s little robot that won’t

Posted 9:28 am U.S. ET, Aug. 29
TOKYO -- It’s a tantalizing idea: Send Honda’s pint-sized humanoid Asimo robot into the highly radioactive areas of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant to help clean up the mess.
But the cancer impervious Asimo won’t be boldly going where no man dares to go. Honda Motor Co. is denying a Japanese press report that its bi ...
     Continue reading "Honda’s little robot that won’t" » Aug 29, 2011 9:28 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Nissan’s curious math for Japan production: Not so reassuring

Posted 10:15 am U.S. ET, Aug. 16
TOKYO -- Nissan Motor Co. CEO Carlos Ghosn rarely talks in public these days without mentioning his commitment to building 1 million vehicles a year in Japan.
The pledge aims to reassure a nation nervous that Nissan and other exporters will close shop in Japan amid the soaring yen and ship those jobs overseas.
...
     Continue reading "Nissan’s curious math for Japan production: Not so reassuring" » Aug 16, 2011 10:15 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Mazda’s i-stop is an eye-opener

Posted 11:46 am U.S. ET, Aug. 4
TOKYO -- Stop-start technology has big promise as a fuel saver.
So I was excited to test drive the facelifted Mazda2, which went on sale in Japan last month with the company’s new SkyActiv gasoline engine and cylinder deactivation system.
By turning off the engine at traffic stops and automatically restar ...
     Continue reading "Mazda’s i-stop is an eye-opener" » Aug 4, 2011 11:46 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Rare role reversal in Japan’s brutal earnings season

Posted 11:24 am U.S. ET, Aug. 2
TOKYO -- Who could have guessed the stunning role reversal pulled off by Mitsubishi Motors Corp. during this brutal Japanese earnings season?
Mitsubishi, in recent years the earnings weakling among its domestic peers, was used to sometimes having its earnings results go in the opposite direction from the rest of the pack.
...
     Continue reading "Rare role reversal in Japan’s brutal earnings season" » Aug 2, 2011 11:24 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Hyundai gets another feather for cap

Posted 11:03 am U.S. ET, July 28
TOKYO -- No sooner had Hyundai achieved top-notch quality and reliability marks than it scored big in another key area where it long lagged: brand appeal.
The South Korean automaker surged in this year's Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study by J.D. Power and Associates. Hyundai was the most improved brand, jumping to No. 15 in ...
     Continue reading "Hyundai gets another feather for cap" » Jul 28, 2011 11:03 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Mazda plays bubble game with Flat Rock

Posted 10:21 am U.S. ET, July 20
TOKYO -- Don’t hold your breath for Mazda Motor Corp. to decide what to do about production at the Flat Rock, Mich., factory -- its only North American assembly plant.
The longer Mazda stalls, the more it helps its joint venture partner, Ford Motor Co., drive a hard bargain with the UAW, which represents workers at the plant. And the more pay ...
     Continue reading "Mazda plays bubble game with Flat Rock" » Jul 20, 2011 10:21 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Suzuki’s drastic quake insurance plan: Move shop

Posted 11:01 am U.S. ET, July 7
TOKYO -- Suzuki Motor Corp. isn’t taking chances when the next Big One hits Japan.
With most of its manufacturing and r&d facilities clustered along a stretch of Pacific coast long pegged as the epicenter for the country’s next disastrous earthquake, Suzuki is taking action.
The plan: Invest 40 ...
     Continue reading "Suzuki’s drastic quake insurance plan: Move shop" » Jul 7, 2011 11:01 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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Toyota's earthquake recovery, by the numbers

Posted 11:29 am U.S. ET, June 30
TOKYO -- Toyota has made astounding progress in rebounding from Japan's devastating March earthquake. Here's an overview, by the numbers.
The figures show the enormity of the disaster and the work required to restore production. Global production chief Atsushi Niimi says that after ensuring the safety of employees and families - there were no deaths - he immediately rolled up his ...
     Continue reading "Toyota's earthquake recovery, by the numbers" » Jun 30, 2011 11:29 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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The beauty of being Carlos Ghosn

Posted 9:00 am U.S. ET, June 29
YOKOHAMA, Japan -- When Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn unleashed an avalanche of ambitious numerical targets for his latest mid-term business plan this week, he was the first to concede: "Some may question whether we can achieve all of it."
But a better question is whether Ghosn needs to achieve all of it. Ghosn's track record of meeting his business plan ...
     Continue reading "The beauty of being Carlos Ghosn" » Jun 29, 2011 9:00 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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The beauty of being Carlos Ghosn

Posted 10:15 am U.S. ET, June 28
YOKOHAMA, Japan -- When Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn unleashed an avalanche of ambitious numerical targets for his latest midterm business plan this week, he was the first to concede: “Some may question whether we can achieve all of it.”
But a better question is whether Ghosn needs to achieve all of it. Ghosn’s track record of meeting ...
     Continue reading "The beauty of being Carlos Ghosn" » Jun 28, 2011 10:15 am U.S. ET Post Comment  |  Permalink

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