Japanese Car News

[Gummybr]

Nissan launches a high end Note called the Note Aura. Proper Video starts off at 30mins

 

[iRage]

Yeah..the Aura was revealed about 2 hours ago...its pretty much a high end as well as big bodied, Note. Has the same power train as the standard Note but with increased power (116hp in the Note vs. 136 in the Aura) and torque (280Nm in the Note vs. 300 in the Aura). The interior itself seems to be  of a better texture and a finish (same as the Note which already has a good interior), although I am not too sure about all the cloth. Also, the head rest speakers...not sure about that....interesting but some people might find it annoying so hope it is an option.

It would be interesting to see how this fairs...the Note started gaining some momentum but then hit a brick wall with production delays a lot earlier on than for the Yaris and Fit (so a lot of business was lost to Toyota and Honda).

Side by side you really do not see much of a difference until you look deeper and notice that things seem to be a bit more bulged up. Drive reviews also came out along with the reveal and the jounos seem to be unanimous on the fact that the Aura does have a better finish to it, more room and a much better ride (albeit the low speed twitch in the Note is still there....when driving the Note at low speed the suspension feels a little bit too active and as a resullt it feels a bit unsettled...not uncomfortable...just unsettled).

 

Edited June 15, 2021 by iRage

[Gummybr]

2 hours ago, iRage said:

 Also, the head rest speakers...not sure about that....interesting but some people might find it annoying so hope it is an option.

 

I think the Micra / March was the first in the Nissan range to have headrest speakers, did it have something to do with safety as well? 

When I first saw it I was wondering if they named the Ariya differently but then saw that the Note badge was there.

 

They seem to be going to town on the ePower tech.

[iRage]

8 hours ago, Gummybr said:

I think the Micra / March was the first in the Nissan range to have headrest speakers, did it have something to do with safety as well? 

When I first saw it I was wondering if they named the Ariya differently but then saw that the Note badge was there.

 

They seem to be going to town on the ePower tech.

For Nissan...yes...the Micra was the first. Premium brands like Mercs, Bentleys, etc...had headrest speakers but I do believe most of them were little cup like speakers that were mounted on to the headrest arms/locks. Nissan also offers it in the Kicks..atleast it was part of a launch/pre-order package that was offered and costed like 300,000yen with the audio setup, upgraded reverse cam, etc....

The speakers are good....it is one of those low sounding speakers that eminate those low tones that you would miss and give certain tones that little mmmf....it is amazing if you are hanging out in your car and want to listen to some good music (considering the times stuck in traffic I an see how it can be useful). Its just that it really did not make any difference when driving and had the volume low. In fact at times it was a bit of an annoyance because you would get these soft and low tones right next to your ears (kind of like a tweeker stuck on your shoulder)...but I suppose you would get used to it and can be a safety concern as well. At the time I did not see the purpose of spending that much of money on it.

 

[Gummybr]

No more Nissan Sedans in the future?

https://www.carscoops.com/2021/06/nissan-will-stop-developing-sedans-for-the-japanese-market/

[iRage]

18 minutes ago, Gummybr said:

No more Nissan Sedans in the future?

https://www.carscoops.com/2021/06/nissan-will-stop-developing-sedans-for-the-japanese-market/

Sadly true....rumor started circulating a few weeks go and last week there was some strange (and I mean strange and cryptic) press release about Nissan focusing on introducing cross-overs, SUVs, family movers and speciality vehicles (I am guessing the likes of the Z and GTR). It did not say it was not developing sedans..just did not mention introducing any sedans (replacement models) in the foreseeable future and the plants where the sedans were being made for the domestic market were repurposed for other models (not even that it is being repurposed but...but the fact that looking at the capacity figures for the new SUVs it is obvious that the sedans would have to be drastically cut back).

As the article suggests the question remains on what will happen to the Skyline. Those in the industry suggest that Nissan might

a. Just keep the nameplate alive as a crossover (which they did sometime back) or a coupe (if they have one)

and

b. Retire the sedan domestically (for now at least) but as it is sold as the Q50 (and other names)in the export markets, just reintroduce it periodically in Japan as speciality vehicles.

But on the plus side...they also mentioned how within 10 days of opening order acceptances, they managed to sell 4000 units. So that is definitely off to a good start. They also had a break down of the customers so far....3% of them are in their 20s, 9% in their 30s, 24% in their 40s. 33% in their 50s, 31% in their 60s. So 64% of customers are 50+, for some cars and manufacturers this is a bit of a concern.  

[iRage]

June 10th-ish : Toyota announces news embargo for the Toyota Tundra until end of June (? or something)

June 17th : Toyota US has a reveal/orientation event for all Toyota dealers in the US for the 2022 Toyota Tundra

June 18th : Photos of 2022 Toyota Tundra leaked (photos taken during the actual dealer reveal)

The Tundra is based on the same TNGA (GA-F) platform and is expected to have the same power and drive trains as the new LC300.

[Gummybr]

18 minutes ago, iRage said:

June 10th-ish : Toyota announces news embargo for the Toyota Tundra until end of June (? or something)

June 17th : Toyota US has a reveal/orientation event for all Toyota dealers in the US for the 2022 Toyota Tundra

June 18th : Photos of 2022 Toyota Tundra leaked (photos taken during the actual dealer reveal)

The Tundra is based on the same TNGA (GA-F) platform and is expected to have the same power and drive trains as the new LC300.

The LC should have gone with this front end. Much more meaner looking. Wonder why its not sold in Australia, if its based on the LC for sure the Aussie will love it rather than cut the LC to make them into UTE's.

[iRage]

On 6/18/2021 at 7:18 PM, Gummybr said:

The LC should have gone with this front end. Much more meaner looking. Wonder why its not sold in Australia, if its based on the LC for sure the Aussie will love it rather than cut the LC to make them into UTE's.

Could be the high capacity petrol engine and the lack of a diesel option ? The previous Tundra and Sequia shared a completly different platform and was nly offered in petrol....so it never appealed to markets outside of America (I suppose). Also, Aussies have been concerting LC100s and LC200s in to pickup trucks forever (under license from Toyota). 

As for the new one...Also..although the platform is the same the body is larger (at least in the previous model it was)....so the dynamics of the vehicle might not be to Aussie taste ? Sine it is sharing the LC platform now, it might not be too difficult to stick a diesel engine in there if Toyota really wanted to...but the Tundra is exculsively built in the North American continent and Mexico.They did some swapping around of production plants....not sure where it is getting built now. There aren't any diesel engines being built in North America so the power trains will have to be shipped to the US or a fully buit body minus the engine will have to be shipped to some other country region to drop in the engine (which Toyota does not have). So it really might not be cost competitive at the end.

[iRage]

A few hours after one of the dealers leaked images of the Tundra...Toyota themselves showed proper pics of the vehicle and tweeted this :

Well..this is the TRD Pro variant...

[iRage]

Honda CIvic Htchback World Reveal

I like that it has the forward pouncing front and raked egg shaped rear look of the early 80s Honda hatches

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2021 by iRage

[iRage]

We saw the Monograph concept...now we see the real deal...the new Infinity QX60.

Nissan actually had a fun little presentation with Kate Hudson....
I hope it is atually good as it looks ❤️ 

[iRage]

MItsubishi and Rallying

...no...it ain't happening...

Mitsubishi had its Annual General Meeting yesterday and reading the transcript of the AGM is as depressing as listening to a broken hearted teenage boy who got dumped by his first love.

The President's speech/announcement/plan has this huge shpeel about building cars for Mitsubishi customers to experience safe, comfort and electrified SUVs and cars....then he wen ton to say how all car models in developed countries will be electrified. Then he also went on to talk about the May announcement of reviving RalliArt accessories and future expansion needs to be considered (at a later stage ?). At the end he also mentioned that despite share holder requests and market interest a Lancer Evolution will not be released. He went on to say that R&D in to electrification requires a huge financial commitment that development of a new Lancer Evolution will not be possible (note how he did not mention that there will not be any other car with an Evolution model either from Mitsubishi or a custom outfitter).

So yeah....if you guys want to reach out for your prozac...I understand....after reading that depressing transcript...I wanted to too...

Short outtake of the AGM that is not as depressing as the whole thing available at the Mitsu corp website: https://www.msn.com/ja-jp/autos/news/三菱自-加藤社長「今後ラリーなどへの関与も検討していく」/ar-AALmXcz?ocid=msedgdhp

 

[Gummybr]

18 hours ago, iRage said:

MItsubishi and Rallying

...no...it ain't happening...

Mitsubishi had its Annual General Meeting yesterday and reading the transcript of the AGM is as depressing as listening to a broken hearted teenage boy who got dumped by his first love.

The President's speech/announcement/plan has this huge shpeel about building cars for Mitsubishi customers to experience safe, comfort and electrified SUVs and cars....then he wen ton to say how all car models in developed countries will be electrified. Then he also went on to talk about the May announcement of reviving RalliArt accessories and future expansion needs to be considered (at a later stage ?). At the end he also mentioned that despite share holder requests and market interest a Lancer Evolution will not be released. He went on to say that R&D in to electrification requires a huge financial commitment that development of a new Lancer Evolution will not be possible (note how he did not mention that there will not be any other car with an Evolution model either from Mitsubishi or a custom outfitter).

So yeah....if you guys want to reach out for your prozac...I understand....after reading that depressing transcript...I wanted to too...

Short outtake of the AGM that is not as depressing as the whole thing available at the Mitsu corp website: https://www.msn.com/ja-jp/autos/news/三菱自-加藤社長「今後ラリーなどへの関与も検討していく」/ar-AALmXcz?ocid=msedgdhp

 

Well to be honest Mitsubishi were not very present in rallying after the Tommi Makkinen era. The Europeans and now Toyota and Hyundai are taking all the accolades. 

Maybe its for the betterment, I think we are not that far from EV rallies given the fact that there is eformula racing. So maybe they want to be the pioneers in that field and then again yes the world is going electric so they need to put that R&D for the future.

Lets hope for the best.

[Gummybr]

On 6/24/2021 at 9:45 AM, iRage said:

We saw the Monograph concept...now we see the real deal...the new Infinity QX60.

Nissan actually had a fun little presentation with Kate Hudson....
I hope it is atually good as it looks ❤️ 

It looks all good, is it the same as the Pathfinder?

What I dont like are those rear exhausts, they look out of place and ugly could have done a better job there (they do so much good and screw up the design with that small thing and they seem to hide the fact in all the pictures that the rear specially with the exhaust looks out of place)

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by Gummybr

[iRage]

5 hours ago, Gummybr said:

Well to be honest Mitsubishi were not very present in rallying after the Tommi Makkinen era.

Yeah...but they were quite strong in the SUV rallies....but that too does seem to be a bit on the balance now with not much energy from the parent company.

5 hours ago, Gummybr said:

I think we are not that far from EV rallies given the fact that there is eformula racing

We are not...2022 onwards rally cars need to be Hybrids, thus the reason the GR Yaris never got to hit the WRC this year.

5 hours ago, Gummybr said:

is it the same as the Pathfinder?

Since the R52 Pathfinder (so around 2011?) the QX60 has been sharing the Pathfinder platform. So yes..this too would be the same. 

Before the R52 Pathfinder the QX60 as only spiritually related to the Pathfinder as the QX53 (or something..) was pretty much a rebadged pathfinder.

I did not even notice the exhaust tips....but I did not like those huge silver plates withthe fake canards on the rear bumper...they should have put some sort of lights/refectors there or the actual exhausts...

[Gummybr]

Suzuki Jimny has been a success story world around (except in places where they dont sell them), just think about the long list of customers who have put down a deposit and their name for a cheap 4wd which they wont get for another 1 year or so. The used prices have been shooting up.

Now they have gone and announced the coming of the Jimny Lite.

Manual

Steel Wheels

Bare bones radio

Basically nothing to go wrong

And the Aussies are the ones to get it, imagine the mods they will start doing.

https://japanesenostalgiccar.com/the-suzuki-jimny-lite-is-the-formula-every-carmaker-should-be-copying/#more-85753

[Kavvz]

On 6/19/2021 at 7:49 AM, iRage said:

A few hours after one of the dealers leaked images of the Tundra...Toyota themselves showed proper pics of the vehicle and tweeted this :

Well..this is the TRD Pro variant...

 

Love the styling:That is one good looking pickup! 

[iRage]

Ah yes...the car of many a Sri Lankan's automotive wet dreams...

Just a few days before the official reveal spy shots of the all new Aqua have sprung up. The new model is based on the TNGA GA-B platform but with a spruced up body whilst keeping the unmistakable Aqua body-lines of the current model. 
Why is the Aqua still needed if the Yaris is there (in both Hybrid and Gasoline forms) ? APparently the Yaris is supposed to be a youthful and exhilarating hatch whilst the Aqua a conservative and modest one...nice way to put "boring" ? (But in all honesty the current Aqua has a nice nimble frame only to be let down by lethargic steering..and the GA-B platform is quite decent...so it really won't be too boring..fingures crossed).

Current model of Aqua stopped sales last month and dealers were registering pre-orders...the car is to be unveiled early next month and I suppose some of the pre-orders will be delievered

It seems to have an interesting range of colors..

Must hand it to them...BestcarWeb did get the rendering pretty close ages ago

[Gummybr]

3 hours ago, iRage said:

 

Must hand it to them...BestcarWeb did get the rendering pretty close ages ago

I think best car has some informants in the design studios.

It looks more fish like now, not a fan of that rear passenger window anyone with claustrophobia will have a good time in the back seat.

Remember sometime back all the car makers were looking at big windows and making airy cabins now looks like everyone is going a different way. 

[iRage]

6 hours ago, Gummybr said:

I think best car has some informants in the design studios

They are known to have good contacts at pretty much all of the manufacturers (Creative Trends also sort of fall in to this category)...also their editorial staff are pretty prominent in the automotive journolist circles...so yeah....they do get their renderings spot on 99% of the time.

[Gummybr]

1 hour ago, iRage said:

They are known to have good contacts at pretty much all of the manufacturers (Creative Trends also sort of fall in to this category)...also their editorial staff are pretty prominent in the automotive journolist circles...so yeah....they do get their renderings spot on 99% of the time.

Must be a nice and enjoyable job being a Best Car journo.

[iRage]

Officially launched....(wasn't the most exciting reveal).
Price is about 200,000yen more than the previous model (except for a new stripped out business model), but you do get a lot more car...

Saw it in person last Friday.....it isn't too bad in real life when you get to see only limited panels at a time

[iRage]

Interesting....
The LC300 has been accepting pre-orders in Japan before its official launch on 1st of August. It has received 22,000 orders that Toyota had freaked out and stopped accepting orders.... Apparently, Toyota requires you to sign a contract for the Land Cruiser stating that you will not resell the LC300 and you are not buying it for export/resale purposes. Violating the agreement results in one not being able to deal with Toyota for X period of time.
Apparently they are cancelling orders left and right. I suppose a lot of oorders were destined for SEA and Afrian regions. It is "supposed" to be to ensure that the vehicles do not fall in to the hands of dictators and terrorists...Hmmm...REALLY ? No such thing for a Hilux...or a Prado...or a 70 is there ?

[Gummybr]

On 7/19/2021 at 12:19 PM, iRage said:

Interesting....
The LC300 has been accepting pre-orders in Japan before its official launch on 1st of August. It has received 22,000 orders that Toyota had freaked out and stopped accepting orders.... Apparently, Toyota requires you to sign a contract for the Land Cruiser stating that you will not resell the LC300 and you are not buying it for export/resale purposes. Violating the agreement results in one not being able to deal with Toyota for X period of time.
Apparently they are cancelling orders left and right. I suppose a lot of oorders were destined for SEA and Afrian regions. It is "supposed" to be to ensure that the vehicles do not fall in to the hands of dictators and terrorists...Hmmm...REALLY ? No such thing for a Hilux...or a Prado...or a 70 is there ?

Terrorists and dictators the world over will not in anyway use a big Land Cruiser, will be more happy with the workhorse Hilux and the LC70. Its just that our goons will love the Land Cruiser and will pay top money for it, and this makes me think if some big shots in Sri Lanka has already ordered the Land Cruiser from Japan (through third parties of course).

Has Toyota been hit with the chip shortage as well?

On 7/19/2021 at 12:19 PM, iRage said:

That flex (articulation)!