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Keith Naughton
For Keith Naughton's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Striking UAW autoworkers demonstrate at a rally in downtown Detroit on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Sep 18, 2023
How auto executives misread the UAW and ignited a historic strike
UAW president Shawn Fain’s aggressiveness reflects the mood of the American worker: anxious about job security and angry about a ballooning wealth gap.
An autonomous truck in Stack AV’s test fleet
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 8, 2023
SoftBank backs autonomous trucking firm started by ex-Ford execs
The new firm, named Stack AV, is led by three executives who previously ran Argo AI, the self-driving operation that Ford and VW shut down last year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2023
Ford to seek flexible use of EV production workforce in contract talks with UAW
The U.S. has been the slowest major market to adopt EVs, lagging behind China and Europe.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Nov 9, 2021
The U.S. auto sector’s next big idea: Tiny trucks
Smaller trucks are having a renaissance as young buyers fret over the climate crisis and confront piles of student debt.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 23, 2021
Worsening chip shortage to cost automakers $210 billion in sales
A dire forecast from AlixPartners says global automakers will build 7.7 million fewer vehicles due to the chip crisis this year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2021
EVs seen reaching global sales supremacy by 2033, faster than expected
Tougher regulations and rising interest are driving demand for zero-emissions transportation, according to a new study.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
May 28, 2021
Chip crisis forces carmakers to rethink just-in-time ordering
The shortcomings of that system were made starkly clear this year as the automakers confronted a dearth of the chips they need to build advanced functions into their vehicles.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2021
Tesla slips while Mazda rises in Consumer Reports' latest auto rankings
Vehicles made by the U.S. firm were less reliable than others, while Mazda outshone Porsche and Toyota was praised for its 'slow, methodical” design approach.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 6, 2019
Ford letting people bring dogs to work in bid to lure tech talent
This year when Ford Motor Co. went outside the company for the first time in 70 years to hire a chief financial officer, he came with an impressive pedigree — a resume that included top jobs at Amazon Inc. and Snap Inc.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 12, 2019
VW and Ford extend collaboration to electric, self-driving cars
Volkswagen AG and Ford Motor Co. will cooperate on electric and self-driving car technology, sharing costs on a global scale to take a major step forward in the industry's disruptive transformation.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 11, 2019
Despite Prius sales slump, hybrids as popular as ever
The Toyota Prius, once revered as the greenest car on the road, has fallen on hard times. Sales are on a six-year losing streak, and now the previously pre-eminent eco-mobile has fallen behind the Ford Fusion hybrid — a model its parent company plans to pull the plug on in a couple years.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Sep 28, 2018
SEC probe raises once unthinkable prospect of a Tesla without Elon Musk
It is nearly impossible to imagine Tesla Inc. without Elon Musk — its chairman, CEO, largest shareholder and public face.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2015
Ford CFO says Toyota gains $10 billion advantage on weak yen
Ford Motor Co.'s top financial executive said the weak yen hands Japanese automakers as much as $11,000 more profit per car and allowed Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest automaker, to earn an extra $10 billion in 2013. Ford wants the U.S. to intervene against what it sees as currency manipulation.
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2012
Both Ford, Toyota claim top-selling car in the world
Ford Motor Co., the second-largest U.S. automaker, and Toyota Motor Corp., Asia's biggest car company, are each saying they produced the best-selling car in the world in the first half. Their definitions are the key.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 19, 2009
U.S. makers take cue from Toyota in cutting dealers
General Motors and Chrysler, borrowing from Toyota's playbook, are betting they can sell more cars with fewer dealerships.

Longform

High-end tourism is becoming more about the kinds of experiences that Japan's lesser-known places can provide.
Can Japan lure the jet-set class off the beaten path?