Tag - used-cars

 
Menu
Search
 
May 06, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

USED CARS

Wecars President and CEO Shinjiro Tanaka (center) at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Companies
May 1, 2024
New firm formed to take over Bigmotor's operations
Wecars took over around 250 outlets and some 4,200 employees from Bigmotor, and its board of directors does not include former members of Bigmotor's board.
A Bigmotor outlet in Tama, Tokyo, in September
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 6, 2024
Itochu announces turnaround support for Bigmotor
Itochu is considering investing ¥20 billion in a new company to take over Bigmotor's key assets.
The severed trunk of a roadside tree in front of a Bigmotor dealership in the city of Saitama, in July. Police authorities have received 51 reports of damage apparently caused by the company's practices of felling and killing with herbicides trees on the streets in front of its stores.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 31, 2024
First Bigmotor employee arrested over alleged removal of roadside trees
Toshiyuki Kamohara, 51, is believed to have instructed staff at the company's Kawasaki outlet to cut down trees near the store.
Sompo Holdings' Kengo Sakurada is planning to step down as the company's CEO at the end of March.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 23, 2024
Sompo Holdings' CEO to resign over handling of Bigmotor wrongdoing
The Financial Services Agency has ended its on-site inspections of Sompo Holdings and Sompo Japan and is expected to issue business improvement orders.
Subsidies in China turned the country into an electric vehicle giant but produced weed-infested graveyards of abandoned EVs.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 25, 2023
No one wants used EVs, making new ones a tougher sell too
In the $1.2 trillion secondhand market, prices for battery-powered cars are falling faster than for their combustion-engine cousins.
Bigmotor's registration as an insurance agent will be revoked later this month.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 14, 2023
FSA to revoke Bigmotor's registration as insurance agent
The planned penalty follows an investigation into widespread acts at Bigmotor of deliberately damaging customers' vehicles to pad insurance claims.
A Bigmotor outlet in Tama, Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 24, 2023
Transport ministry orders Bigmotor to halt operations at 34 shops
Twelve of the shops had their licenses to carry out private vehicle inspections revoked.
A used KIA electric car is seen for sale outside the showroom of a used car dealer in Manchester, Britain
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 23, 2023
The battery test race to work out what used EVs are really worth
There used to be no way to measure battery health. But that is changing as firms rush to scale up EV battery tests — some of which take just minutes.
The transport ministry holds a hearing session for Bigmotor on Friday in Nagoya. Bigmotor officials did not show up.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 20, 2023
Transport ministry moves to punish Bigmotor outlets over fraud
Violations by the used car chain have included overcharging customers for inspection and maintenance fees.
The transport ministry plans to order major used car dealer Bigmotor to halt operations at a quarter of its vehicle maintenance outlets over suspected improper provision of services as investigations continue into insurance fraud cases.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 13, 2023
Bigmotor to be ordered to halt operations at 34 maintenance shops
The transport ministry has said that the company intentionally damaged vehicles to inflate repair fees.
A Bigmotor dealer branch in Saitama that was inspected by the transport ministry
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 12, 2023
Transport ministry to penalize used car dealer Bigmotor for fraud
Penalties are planned at 34 Bigmotor outlets, with 12 possibly set to have their authority to conduct safety inspections revoked.
Whistleblower reports on Bigmotor's fraudulent activities prompted Sompo Japan and two other major nonlife insurers to suspend customer referrals to Bigmotor in June last year, but Sompo Japan soon resumed the referrals.
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2023
Panel raps Sompo Japan's resumption of business with Bigmotor
The report said the resumption of business was caused by concerns among Sompo Japan execs about possibly losing deals with Bigmotor to rivals.
Secondhand Toyota cars on sale in Moscow in July 2016
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 3, 2023
Japan puts the brakes on lucrative used-car trade with Russia
While wiping out Russia's biggest source of used cars, sanctions have driven down prices for secondhand cars in Japan.
Financial Services Agency officials enter Bigmotor's Tama outlet in western Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 19, 2023
Watchdog starts on-site probe of Bigmotor and Sompo Japan
The investigation aims to dig deeper into the insurance fraud scandal by the leading used-car dealer. The probe is likely to take several months.
Sompo Japan Insurance President Giichi Shirakawa apologizes during a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 8, 2023
Sompo Japan president to resign for Bigmotor insurance fraud scandal
The insurer's close relationship with the used car dealership has come under scrutiny since the firm was found to have made fraudulent insurance claims.
Bigmotor, embroiled in a scandal over excessive repair fees and auto insurance fraud, may have forced its subcontractors to lower prices and have their company vehicles undergo periodic inspections at its workshops, according to sources.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 2, 2023
Japan fair trade body probes scandal-hit Bigmotor over subcontracts
The company may have forced its subcontractors to lower prices and have their company vehicles undergo periodic inspections at its workshops.
Aichi Prefectural Police investigators raid a car dealership in Komaki in August last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 28, 2023
Car thefts on the rise in Japan as vehicle prices remain high
Cases of car theft increased last year for the first time in almost a decade, with Aichi the most affected prefecture, and are still rising rapidly.
Transport ministry officials leave a Bigmotor dealership in Nagoya on Friday after conducting on-site inspections.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 31, 2023
Bigmotor suspected of fabricating insurance contracts
The news came on top of an investigation report that showed employees padded maintenance fee claims to insurance firms by deliberately damaging cars.
Transport ministry officials enter a Bigmotor dealership in Sapporo on Friday for an on-site inspection.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 28, 2023
Transport ministry conducts on-site probe of Bigmotor amid scandal
The surprise inspection, which covered dealerships in 24 prefectures, came after the ministry interviewed Bigmotor executives including newly appointed President Shinji Izumi on Wednesday.
Used cars to be shipped to Russia are parked at a port in the city of Toyama last August.
BUSINESS
Jul 28, 2023
Japan to expand Russia car export ban in line with G7 peers
The latest measure will cover new and used gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles exceeding 1,900 cubic centimeters in engine capacity, as well as electric and hybrid vehicles.
Japan says Biden's description of nation as xenophobic is 'unfortunate'
The National Diet building in Tokyo
As visitors surge, Japan seeks ways to make tourism eco-friendly
Much like other hot spots across Okinawa, Onna has diligently strived to captivate both domestic and international tourists, while at the same time grappling with the environmental strain induced by the influx of visitors.
G7 eyes plan on U.S.-led $50 billion aid package for Ukraine
A local resident visits the Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, on Thursday. The U.S. is in talks with close partners to lead a group of allies that would give as much as $50 billion in aid to Ukraine.
Japan drops to 70th in press freedom rankings
A businessman reads a newspaper outside a train station in Tokyo.
Kishida talks up bolstered Latin American ties as China cements position
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida holds a news conference in Sao Paulo on Saturday.
'Monster' Inoue ready to tear down Luis Nery in title defense at Tokyo Dome
Naoya Inoue (left) and Luis Nery following a pre-fight news conference in Yokohama on Saturday, two days ahead of their super bantamweight title fight.
Debate on constitutional revision at a standstill despite Kishida's pledges
With less than two months left before the conclusion of the current session of parliament, any possibility that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida can deliver constitutional reform before the end of his term as Liberal Democratic Party president in late September, as he has promised, appears remote.
Sapporo court ruling on Ainu fishing rights presents tough questions
A traditional Ainu preserved food called <i>satchep</i> (dried fish) being made at the government-run National Ainu Museum and Park, nicknamed Upopoy, in the town of Shiraoi, Hokkaido, on Dec. 25. The Sapporo District Court ruled last month that the Raporo Ainu Nation's rights as an Indigenous people did not extend to having an inherent right to fish for commercial reasons.
With eye on China, defense chiefs agree to bolster interoperability
From left: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian defense chief Richard Marles, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro hold a joint news conference in Honolulu on Thursday.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
By Stephen Mansfield

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Live like a lord or lady for a night at Ozu Castle
Live like a lord or lady for a night at Ozu Castle

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER