Tag - carmakers

 
 

CARMAKERS

Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief negotiator, says that U.S. tariffs on Japanese autos will fall soon.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 9, 2025
Akazawa heralds U.S. trade deal as he moots wrinkle in it
He notes Japan cannot finance any project that contravenes its laws.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick argues that U.S. President Donald Trump has sole authority to invest Japan's promised $550 billion.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 8, 2025
Search is on for loopholes in Japan’s $550 billion investment pledge
The pledge was described over the weekend by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as essentially a blank checkbook for U.S. President Donald Trump.
A Homeland Security Investigations police officer watches over workers during a federal search warrant at a company in Ellabell, Georgia, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 8, 2025
U.S. migrant raid jolts South Korea and stirs investor anxiety
The raid came shortly after a White House summit between the presidents of both countries where Korean companies pledged to up U.S. investments.
U.S. Homeland Security Investigations police officers execute a federal search warrant at a Hyundai Motor factory in Ellabell, Georgia, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 7, 2025
Immigration raid on Hyundai-LG plant in Georgia rattles South Korea
The raid came at a sensitive time ​in trade relations​, unsettling South Korean businesses investing in the United States.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung meets with U.S. President Donald Trump meets at the White House in Washington on Aug. 25.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 6, 2025
South Korean president vows support to citizens arrested in U.S. immigration raid
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said the government has set up a team to respond to Thursday's arrest of over 300 South Koreans at the facility in the southern state of Georgia.
Mazda cars at the company's main plant in Fuchu, Hiroshima Prefecture, in July
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Sep 6, 2025
U.S. tariffs still spell big pain for Japan's small automakers
Smaller automakers Mitsubishi Motors, Mazda and Subaru are less able to absorb the tariff shock than bigger rivals like Toyota and Honda.
A raid is conducted at a construction site for an electric vehicle battery plant in Ellabell, Georgia, on Thursday. Immigration authorities arrested hundreds of workers for a major South Korean battery maker at the Hyundai plant in Georgia, U.S. officials said Friday, calling it the largest ever Homeland Security enforcement operation at a single location.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 6, 2025
U.S. agents arrest 475 in raid on South Korea's Hyundai-LG plant in Georgia
The operation was the largest single site raid carried out so far as part of President Donald Trump's nationwide anti-migrant drive.
Elon Musk attends the opening ceremony of the new Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, Germany, in March 2022.
BUSINESS
Sep 5, 2025
Tesla offers unprecedented $1 trillion pay package to Musk
The long-awaited proposal, designed to incentivize Musk to lead Tesla for years to come, sets a series of ambitious benchmarks he must meet to earn the full payout.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba heads toward the Upper House hall in Tokyo on Aug. 1.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 5, 2025
Ishiba reaffirms intent to stay on after tariffs lowered
In a further sign of his intention to stay on, he also announced later in the day that his government will compile an economic package this autumn.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, sign trade agreements on Thursday in Washington.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 5, 2025
Japan's $550 billion investment pledge outlined in MOU
U.S. President Donald Trump will direct the investments and the projects funded by Japan will be controlled by the United States.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, shake hands.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 5, 2025
Trump signs order reducing tariffs on Japanese autos
The executive order signed by the U.S. president on Thursday in Washington sets auto tariffs on Japan at 15%.
The new Prelude model released by Honda, on Thursday in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 5, 2025
Honda to revive Prelude sports car after 24 years
The major Japanese automaker targets annual domestic sales of 3,500 units for the new Prelude, a hybrid coupe.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, is reportedly planning to travel to Washington on Thursday for another round of talks over tariffs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 3, 2025
Akazawa likely to leave Thursday for 10th round of tariff talks with U.S.: report
Akazawa abruptly canceled a to the United States just before departure last week, raising concern that the trade deal reached by the two countries on July 22 was in danger.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief negotiator, said he will be watching legal developments in the United States as tariff cases there move forward.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2025
Hope in Tokyo as Trump tariffs declared illegal
The decision is seen as potentially having some significance.
Lightship co-founder and CEO Toby Kraus says his company's model of recreational vehicle attracts both hardcore environmentalists and RV veterans who aren’t necessarily concerned about climate change.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 2, 2025
Road trips are getting cleaner and quieter as RVs go electric
This year, serious alternatives are emerging to the gas-guzzling rigs chugging between national parks.
A Tesla robotaxi drives on a street along South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas, on June 22. CEO Elon Musk has set an ambitious timeline of having "millions of Teslas operating autonomously” by the second half of next year.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 1, 2025
How Tesla and Waymo's radically different robotaxi approaches will shape the industry
The differing strategies have far-reaching implications for the early pecking order in the nascent autonomous-driving space.
A Toyota dealership in Tokyo. Toyota’s worldwide sales rose 4% from a year earlier to 963,796 units, the company said Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 28, 2025
Toyota’s record run of sales extends to a seventh month
Toyota and Lexus brand sales in North America were particularly strong, with demand for trucks, SUVs and gas-electric hybrid models leading to a 20% jump.
The factory of Asahi Tekko, which produces parts for Toyota vehicles, in Hekinan, Japan, on Aug. 18
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 28, 2025
The backbone of the global auto supply chain is at risk from Trump’s tariffs
Industry experts expect a devastating effect on the dense networks of auto parts suppliers that make everything from pistons to wiring.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, had been set to fly to Washington on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 28, 2025
Akazawa's trip to Washington for tariff talks abruptly canceled
Japan's chief tariff negotiator had been set to leave on Thursday for a 10th round of talks.
A Xiaomi SU7 electric vehicle in Shanghai
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 28, 2025
Chinese carmakers resist Beijing’s call to end brutal price war
Domestic EV maker Leapmotor said recently that while the government’s campaign is beneficial for the industry, it won’t affect its pricing tactics.

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.