April 15, 2008
Chrysler and Nissan announced a partnership Monday to build vehicles for each other in what may mark the start of a new wave of similar get-togethers amid falling sales in the auto industry, according to USA Today.
Chrysler will build Nissan's next generation of full-size pickups at a plant in Mexico. The truck will replace the Titan, made at Nissan's Canton, Miss., plant, starting in 2011, the two companies said.
Nissan will make in Japan a new "fuel-efficient small car" for Chrysler to sell in the USA and around the world starting in 2010. Chrysler currently does not have an entry in the subcompact segment. The two had said in January that Nissan would supply a version of its subcompact Versa for Chrysler to sell in South America starting in 2009.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth 
at 10:04 AM | Permalink
February 27, 2008
Hardly a model year goes by without the debut of at least one new car that sets off a frenzied run on dealers’ showrooms, according to The New York Times.
In the last decade, introductions for vehicles as disparate as the Volkswagen New Beetle, Chrysler PT Cruiser, Mini Cooper and Ford GT each resulted in months-long waiting lists, accompanied by gigabytes of Internet speculation.
So far in 2008 that must-have car seems to be the Nissan GT-R, a 480-horsepower sports coupe with all-wheel drive and a full-time cheering section. It will be available in the United States in June, starting around $70,000. Nissan plans to import 2,500 GT-Rs this year and about 1,500 annually in the future.
Typically, the cars that set off these stampedes carry names steeped in history or, at the least, a design that gestures to a beloved icon of the past. Why, then, is a car whose predecessors Nissan has never sold in the United States proving such a phenomenon?
The 2009 GT-R may be the first car whose reputation was forged primarily in the virtual world, at least in the minds of young American enthusiasts. The GT-R is a mainstay of leading video games, notably the Gran Turismo series that Sony PlayStation fans devote hours to, and was a featured star of a promotion that linked the introduction of the actual GT-R at the 2007 Tokyo auto show with the release of a special prologue edition of Gran Turismo 5.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:29 AM | Permalink
January 21, 2008
TOKYO -- A top Nissan executive said Monday that selling cars in the United States is going to be tough this year because of a likely U.S. economic slowdown amid problems in the credit and housing markets as well as a stronger yen, according to the Associated Press.
Automakers and analysts are predicting that this year's U.S. auto sales could drop to their lowest level in a decade to about 16 million vehicles or lower.
Nissan Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga said he was still hopeful that Nissan's new products will attract customers.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:22 AM | Permalink
January 9, 2008
CHICAGO - The Nissan Rogue was the most popular new-car introduction in terms of consumer searches on Cars.com in 2007, according to the most recent Cars.com Consumer Search Index.
The 2008 Nissan Rogue was followed in popularity among Cars.com shoppers by the Infiniti G37, Buick Enclave and Dodge Avenger.
"Nissan finally got into the compact crossover/SUV market in 2007 and has received positive reviews for the all-new Rogue," said Cars.com managing editor Patrick Olsen. "With gas prices being so high, smaller crossover vehicles like the Rogue are likely to remain popular. We see this playing out in the search behavior of shoppers on Cars.com."
Below is the complete list of the 10 most popular new-car introductions on Cars.com in 2007.
1 Nissan Rogue
2 Infiniti G37
3 Buick Enclave
4 Dodge Avenger
5 Ford Taurus X
6 Volvo C30
7 Scion xD
8 Land Rover LR2
9 Pontiac G8
10 Ford Taurus
To be eligible for the list, a car had to be a completely new '08 model that was introduced to consumers in 2007. The list was generated by calculating each car's average number of monthly searches since it was made available to consumers on Cars.com.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:14 AM | Permalink
November 27, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Nissan is recalling 686,500 Altima and Sentra passenger cars to fix problems with a sensor that could lead to engine stalling, according to the Associated Press.
Nissan Motor Co. spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said Monday there have been no reports of crashes or injuries tied to the issue. More than 650,000 of the recalled vehicles are in the United States, with the remainder in Mexico and Canada.
The Japanese automaker said in a Nov. 16 letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the recall affects Altima and Sentra vehicles from the 2002 and 2005-2006 model years equipped with a 2.5 liter engine.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:13 AM | Permalink
October 25, 2007
TOKYO — Just a day after unveiling a $70,000 super car, Nissan Motor CEO Carlos Ghosn described plans for a $3,000 car that could be sold worldwide, according to USA Today.
The cheap car would be built in collaboration with Bajaj, a motorcycle maker in India that's working with Nissan and French car company Renault. Ghosn is CEO of both Nissan and Renault, which own stakes in each other and work together on some projects.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:15 AM | Permalink
TOKYO — Nissan finally quit teasing and showed the production version of its super-high-performance GT-R sports coupe, unveiling it at the big auto show near here Wednesday as a car designed to give Nissan the kind of halo that the Corvette gives to Chevrolet, according to USA Today.
GT-R will go on sale here in December and in the USA — to the cheers of long-suffering auto enthusiasts — in June or July 2008. U.S. auto buffs have been clamoring for the car for more than a decade.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:12 AM | Permalink
October 24, 2007
CHIBA, Japan -- Carlos Ghosn, who heads the automakers Nissan of Japan and Renault of France, said Wednesday he remains interested in a partnership with a major U.S. automaker, although he is not in talks or aggressively looking just yet, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn told reporters the timing wasn’t right to expand the Nissan-Renault alliance, formed in 1999, because Nissan Motor Co. is now in a lull of “consolidation” before going to the next stage of growth.
He did not mention by name any of the three biggest U.S. automakers — General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. or Chrysler LLC.
Speculation has been growing that Chrysler and Ford may be looking for partners as they struggle to restructure their operations and boost profits.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:19 AM | Permalink
October 3, 2007
Despite a difficult overall market, General Motors and Ford found a receptive audience for new and redesigned vehicles in September, giving hope that their evolving lineups could win back U.S. customers, according to the Detroit Free Press.
GM reported Tuesday U.S. sales in September of 334,974, up 0.3% from the same month last year. Sales of the redesigned Cadillac CTS were up 66.8% to 6,416.
Ford's U.S. sales, hurt by slumping truck figures, dropped 20.4% to 189,037. But a redesigned Escape was a bright spot with sales increasing 10.3% to 11,132.
GM and Ford were not the only automakers helped by new products. Sales for Honda Motor Co., which launched a redesigned Accord in September, were up 9.4% to 127,000.
Nissan was up 6.7% to 94,269 thanks largely to the Altima, redesigned in late 2006. A new coupe version was added this year.
Toyota's U.S. sales fell 4.4% in September to 213,043 vehicles, marking the third straight month of declines.
Chrysler LLC's sales were down 5.4% to 159,799. The Auburn Hills automaker emphasized that Jeep brand sales were down 10.6% to 37,460 in September because of a planned fleet reduction.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:17 AM | Permalink
September 4, 2007
Toyota, Ford and Chrysler each reported sales declines last month, but General Motors surprised industry analysts on Tuesday by showing an increase in a declining U.S. auto market, according to the Associated Press.
Toyota's 2.8 percent sales drop, Ford's 14.4 percent decline and Chrysler's 6.1 percent decrease were symptoms of what analysts said would be slumping U.S. auto market due to high gasoline prices, rising mortgage payments and turmoil in the financial markets.
But GM, led by increased pickup truck sales, showed an increase of 6.1 percent, while Nissan Motor Co. reported its sales increased 6.3 percent for August compared with the same month last year.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 3:59 PM | Permalink
August 22, 2007
Nissan plans to equip all of its cars and trucks with a gauge to tell drivers when they are being gas-guzzling lead foots, according to USA Today.
The "fuel-efficiency" meter, as the gauge is called, shows up already as a horizontal bar in the instrument cluster of the 2007 Nissan Altima and the 2008 Titan pickup, Armada SUV, Infiniti G35 car and QX56 SUV.
When coasting down a hill, the meter is long and orange, meaning little fuel is being used. When the pedal is to the metal, the line shortens dramatically.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:56 AM | Permalink
July 23, 2007
Carmakers Mazda and Honda and more than half of Toyota's shuttered assembly lines will restart at least some production over the next two days because a key parts supplier damaged by a major earthquake resumed operations Monday, according to the Associated Press.
Posted by at 12:50 PM | Permalink
July 5, 2007
General Motors' U.S. sales plunged 21.3% in June and Ford dropped 8.1% while Toyota reported a 10.2% sales surge compared with a year ago, according to USA Today.
But Ford remained the No. 2 U.S. auto seller in June, edging Toyota, according to the June sales totals reported Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Nissan said its U.S. sales rose 22.7% and DaimlerChrysler's sales dropped 1.8%, the automakers said.
GM said it sold 320,668 passenger vehicles
Posted by at 11:00 AM | Permalink
July 2, 2007
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-06-27-nissan-batteries_N.htmNissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said Wednesday his company is working hard to develop the next generation of smaller, lighter auto batteries — a technology that holds promise for electric cars as well as for hybrids, according to USA Today.
He also said Nissan and its French partner Renault are moving ahead with studies on a $3,000 car for the Indian market.
Posted by at 11:21 AM | Permalink
Defects aren't something automakers usually like to spotlight, but Nissan's new facility does just that, according to the Associated Press.
Panel photos of cars that had caught fire and an exhibition of other examples of problems are among the features of Nissan's Field Quality Center, which opened last month in this town just west of Tokyo.
The center also includes special simulator machinery that recreates rocky and swerving road conditions to test vehicles indoors for problems. It also houses a huge storage area where some 150 problem parts are brought in a day from dealers for study.
At a time global sales are sliding, Nissan is investing $7.3 million in the center, which brings suppliers and developers under one roof to speed up response to defects and improve quality. In the past, Nissan did not have a central location
Posted by at 11:15 AM | Permalink
June 27, 2007
Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn says his company is working hard to develop the next generation of smaller, lighter auto batteries - a technology that holds promise for electric cars as well as for hybrids, AP reports.
He also said Nissan and its French partner Renault SA are moving ahead with studies on a $3,000 car for the Indian market.
Posted by at 9:51 AM | Permalink
June 20, 2007
Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn told shareholders today that the Japanese automaker's board members will forego their bonus pay to take responsibility for poor performance, according to the Associated Press.
Ghosn acknowledged at a hall packed with more than 2,100 shareholders, a record attendance for Nissan, in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, that the company had not met its targets for fiscal 2006.
Posted by at 10:34 AM | Permalink
