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April 25, 2025
 

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Nicholas Takahashi
Toyota Motor’s sales rose 8% from a year earlier to 231,336 units, while Honda Motor recorded a 13% jump, according to data released Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2025
Japanese carmakers’ U.S. sales surge ahead of Trump tariffs
Toyota Motor’s sales rose 8% from a year earlier to 231,336 units, while Honda Motor recorded a 13% jump, according to data released Thursday.
Stephen Ma, the head of Nissan’s operations in China, speaks during a news conference at the Shanghai auto show on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 23, 2025
Nissan commits another $1.4 billion to China with EVs in focus
"With China moving so fast, we want to stay and we want to compete,” said Stephen Ma, the head of Nissan’s operations in China.
Executives from U.K. self-driving startup Wayve and SoftBank attend an event in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2025
U.K. AI startup Wayve makes Japan debut after Nissan partnership
Earlier this month, Wayve said it was joining forces with Nissan Motor to help build the next generation of its ProPilot driver-assist system.
Mazda will halt production of CX-50 sport utility vehicles destined for Canada at its Alabama plant effective May 12.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 18, 2025
Mazda to pause U.S. production of CX-50 cars destined for Canada
The Japanese automaker will halt production of CX-50 sport utility vehicles destined for Canada at its Alabama plant effective May 12.
Production of Honda’s five-door hybrid Civic is set to be relocated to the firm’s plant in Indiana in June or July.
BUSINESS
Apr 16, 2025
Honda to shift production of Civic from Japan to U.S. due to tariffs
Production of the five-door hybrid model will be relocated around June or July to Honda’s plant in Indiana.
Global sales, including that of subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor and Hino Motors, rose 2% from a year ago to 846,744 units, a record for the month of January, Toyota Motor said Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2025
Toyota’s domestic sales rebound as it recovers from scandals
Despite unease in major markets and a dip in quarterly profit, Toyota raised its annual profit guidance for the fiscal year ending in March.
Nissan Chief Executive Officer Makoto Uchida during a news conference at the company’s global headquarters in Yokohama on Thursday
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2025
Honda and Nissan parting leaves both with unresolved problems
One needs scale to compete on the global stage, the other a lifeline to stay afloat.
Employees assemble D-Max trucks on an assembly line at Isuzu's Samrong Plant in Samut Prakan Province, Thailand, in March.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 12, 2025
Isuzu to build car plant in South Carolina as Trump tariffs loom
Isuzu plans to have the site up and running by 2027, aiming to employ more than 700 workers there by 2028 and produce 50,000 vehicles annually by 2030.
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida (left) and Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe during a news conference in December
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 10, 2025
Honda and Nissan results will highlight flaws as deal set to fail
The likely fallout of Honda’s short-lived alliance with Nissan spells trouble for both companies, but probably one more than the other.
Toyota is investing in increased capacity for electric vehicles and has unveiled plans to establish a subsidiary in Shanghai.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2025
Toyota raises annual profit guidance despite quarterly income drop
The automaker now expects a profit of ¥4.7 trillion ($31 billion) for the fiscal year ending March, up from its previous forecast of ¥4.3 trillion.
Motorcycles on display at the Honda pavilion at the Bangkok International Motor Show in Bangkok in March 2024
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 3, 2025
Honda’s motorcycle business is the gem in a messy Nissan union
Two-wheelers accounted for about 16% of Honda’s sales last fiscal year but an outsized 40% of its operating profit.
Honda and Nissan announced in December that they plan to unite both brands under a single holding company.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 30, 2025
Case for Honda-Nissan tie-up strengthened as sales fall at both automakers
In the competitive China market, Nissan’s sales fell 12% last year while Honda saw a 30% decline.
Honda's electric two-wheeler concept models are on display at it's headquarters in Tokyo. Honda aims to capture half of the world’s motorbike market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 28, 2025
Honda sets its sights on 50% share of world’s motorcycle market
The company's global motorcycle sales are forecast to reach 20.2 million for the fiscal year ending this March, which would give it a share of about 40%.
Mitsubishi Motors is unlikely to join Honda and Nissan's deal to create a holding company together, it was reported Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 24, 2025
Mitsubishi Motors won’t join Honda and Nissan tie-up, Yomiuri says
Mitsubishi Motors hasn’t made any announcements and is considering all options, a spokesperson for the company said.
A trailer transports Nissan’s NV200 Venette minivans in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 21, 2025
Nissan to end production of compact van as Honda rescue looms
Manufacturing unit Nissan Shatai hasn’t made any decisions on job cuts, a Nissan spokesperson said.
Nissan's Ariya electric crossover sport utility vehicle on the production line at the company's plant in Kaminokawa, Tochigi Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 7, 2025
Japan’s carmakers vow closer ties to regain ground in China
Japan’s automakers are united in their struggle to regain ground they’ve lost to the flashy offerings that have turned China into a global EV superpower.
Toyota's business is feeling the strain of intense competition over hybrid cars in the U.S. and locally made electric vehicles in China.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 25, 2024
Toyota sales stagnate as factory glitches compound weaker demand
Vehicle sales totaled 984,348 units last month, the Japanese automaker said Wednesday, down 0.2% year-on-year.
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe speaks during a joint news conference with heads of Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors on their merger talks in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Dec 24, 2024
Honda crafts Nissan rescue plan that plays out over years
While executives called the transaction a merger, Honda will take the lead in forming the new entity and nominate a majority of its directors.
Nissan and Honda are exploring a merger, which would create a rival to Toyota Motor in Japan and better position the combined company to face competitive challenges around the world.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2024
Foxconn in talks with Nissan shareholder Renault, CNA says
Renault’s stake in Nissan is a holdover from a longstanding alliance between the French automaker, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors.
Nissan Motor vehicles bound for shipment at the Nissan Oppama wharf in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 3, 2024
Nissan is awash in outdated models as car buyers look elsewhere
While Japan’s other major carmakers take six months or more to ship a new vehicle, many of Nissan’s most popular models can be delivered within a month or two.
Japan must correct Trump’s false data for trade talks, says Kono
Former Foreign Minister Taro Kono
Japan wants to 'separate' tariff and security issues. That may be tough.
Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, poses with a "Make America Great Again" cap at the White House in Washington on April 16.
Social media helps fuel growing 'sex tourism' in Japan
People walk down a street in the red-light entertainment area of Kabukicho in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on March 31.
Japan set to fine cyclists on the spot for rule violations from 2026
Under new rules, those who use smartphones while riding a bicycle would be subject to the maximum fine of ¥12,000.
Naked man’s rampage in Saitama linked to one fatality and 10 injured
Police believe Daisuke Nishimura may have been involved in roughly 20 incidents in the 90 minutes leading up to his arrest, including a fatal hit-and-run and multiple assaults.
Japan weighs using U.S. rice imports as tariff negotiation tool with Trump
A restaurant owner pours California-grown Calrose rice into a rice cooker at his restaurant in Tokyo
Is Japan’s parliament ready to welcome more youth to its ranks?
Lower House lawmaker Kai Odake in his Tokyo office on Wednesday
Crow meat, goat tartare: Mauvaise Herbe raises its game
Crow meat, shaped into a ball and attached to a foot of the bird, is one of the peculiar offerings of game at Mauvaise Herbe.
Cases of epidural use in labor rise in Japan alongside concerns
Of the 721,000 childbirths reported in 2024 in Japan, 13.8% involved the use of an epidural, according to the Japan Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Nothing sells like Shohei Ohtani, MLB’s marketing megastar
People walk past an advertisement featuring Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani outside Tokyo Dome on March 18.

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