Shiotsu Autotrade Japan – President’s Blog

Mazda Plans to Launch Demio-based EV in 2012

Japan’s fifth-largest auto manufacturer, Mazda, recently announced plans for producing a battery-powered subcompact from 2012 in Japan.  Diverting from its earlier policy of staying focused on enhancing the fuel efficiency of its diesel and petrol ranges until 2015, Mazda confirmed it would be entering into the electric vehicle (EV) market, just like its rivals Toyota and Nissan.

Mazda’s plans for developing a battery-run electric version of the popular Mazda2 hatchback were first heard of in 2009.  The car maker then went on to start actual trials of its prototypes last year.  The company has now declared that the very first batch of its electric Mazda2 will be leased by the spring of 2012 in Japan, primarily to local government organizations and fleet customers.  The model meant for private individuals will be launched in the market by 2013.

Mazda’s new electric car will be based on its Mazda2 model, called Demio in a few markets, and on a fully charged battery, its estimated driving range will be around 200 km (124 miles).

Expensive batteries and a restricted driving range are the drawbacks of electric vehicles.  Despite this, many car manufacturers like Toyota Motor Corp. and Volkswagen AG have joined the pioneers Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. in declaring that they’ll be selling the zero-emission vehicles.  Their decision makes sense for governments of many countries are introducing stricter environmental regulations.

In the meanwhile, Mazda is garnering as much information as it can about electric cars.  The company hopes that its lease program will help in increasing its knowledge of different electric drive technologies in addition to their usage requirements.

According to Mazda’s top management, the company will be prompt to respond to any demand for electric vehicles meant for short-range travel.  Mazda’s electric car will cost less than 3 million yen ($36,350) after subsidies.  But the company did not disclose any sales target or name the supplier for its car’s batteries.

Mazda’s domestic rivals Mitsubishi Motors and Nissan Motor have already launched electric vehicles of their own, while Honda Motor and Toyota Motor are likely to follow suit.  Though late in entering the electric vehicle technology arena, Mazda is determined to make up for lost time by working hard to gradually introduce electric devices like regenerative braking and hybrid systems into its vehicles before finally launching its completely battery-run electric cars.

Technorati Tags: Mazda, electric car, electric vehicle

Hino Truck Engines Rank Highest in Medium Duty Trucks Category

Hino Truck Engines have once again ranked topmost in customer satisfaction for the third consecutive year, in the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 U.S. Customer Satisfaction Study for conventional medium Duty Truck Engine and Transmission.  J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company operating in key business areas including forecasting, market research, web intelligence, customer satisfaction, and performance improvement.  The company’s satisfaction and quality and measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers every year.

The study evaluates customer opinions of Class 5, 6 and 7 gasoline and diesel engines of model year 2009 and supplies automakers with complete and comprehensive calculation of customer satisfaction of their products and dealer services.  Four major aspects are evaluated to determine the overall engine customer satisfaction.  These factors include engine quality, engine performance, engine warranty, and cost of engine ownership.  The satisfaction study also measures engine dependability and reliability, average fuel economy, ease of access to components for maintenance/service, ECM i.e Engine Control Module, vibration at idle, speed maintenance on grades and acceleration while fully loaded.

The performance of Hino Truck engines is excellent in average fuel economy, engine dependability, vibration at idle and engine reliability.  As per J.D. Power and Associates, Hino completely satisfies the truck owners by maintaining high quality of their engines and focusing efforts on most essential aspects of customer satisfaction.

Hino trucks, the world leader in hybrid technology for commercial trucks, continues to provide its customers with new models and technologies which meet customer and environmental needs.  Hino will launch its next generation proprietary hybrid system during the Work Truck Show 2011 in Indianapolis.  This newly designed class 5 and 4 Cab-over-Engine (COE) meet the global market’s unique needs.

Hino Trucks, a subsidiary company of Toyota Group,  manufactures, markets and services medium duty and heavy duty commercial trucks in Japan and other countries such as the US.  Every Hino truck reflects excellent design backed with advanced engineering.   It is a remarkable accomplishment for Hino Trucks that its proprietary engine has won this award for three consecutive years. The ever changing emission regulations have posed challenge to truck engine makers to produce more cleaner and efficient engines.  Hino has successfully met this challenge and maintained the engine quality, durability and reliability demanded by their customers.

Besides the engine award, Hino also ranks highest for Customer Satisfaction Study in the year 2010 for conventional medium duty trucks, in the Customer Satisfaction study conducted by J.D. Power and Associates for conventional medium duty trucks.  With these awards, Hino Trucks is poised to become the top brand name for medium duty trucks.  Hino is thus actively working to raise its profile not only in Japan, but also around the world to establish Hino as a global brand.

Technorati Tags: Truck Engine, Hino Trucks

Review of Toyota Land Cruiser 1990

The 1990 Toyota Land Cruiser is a  tough, capable workhorse that is made for rough terrain and can easily tow 1.5 tons (3500 pounds) of load.  This SUV rocks the socks off anything out there!  It is truly the Legend of any road.  It may not be the prettiest truck on the road but it definitely has the character.  With decades of off-road experience, this SUV is by far the undisputed leader in its class.  When traveling across country on a minimal budget, it can be your best friend.  There are a lot of people who would willingly pay well over 10,000 dollars for a user Land Cruiser with even 100,000 miles!

Toyota launched the 80 series generation of its 4-wheel-drive Land Cruiser way back in 1981.  By 1990, the Land Cruiser engine was changed to a fuel-injected 4.2 liter inline 6-cylinder engine, making 155 horsepower and driving a 4-speed automatic transmission.  All Land Cruisers had on-demand 4-wheel drive.  Front hubs still had to be locked and unlocked by hand.

In 1990 Toyota Land Cruiser, the old 4.0-litre OHV 3F six-cylinder unit was revised to a 4.2 liter, single overhead camshaft, 24 valve, direct injected turbo-diesel developing 125KW 380 Nm of torque at 2500 rpm.   Fuel consumption varies between 12.2L/100 km around town.  The 145 liter fuel tank gives exceptional range.

Major refinements were made in Toyota Land Cruiser 1990 model – especially in comfort, dynamic abilities,  space and safety.  Corrosion resistant steel was introduced along with long-travel coil spring suspension.  Four-wheel disc brakes and constant 4WD were made available on most variants.

Pro’s and Con’s of Toyota Land Cruiser 1990

Pros

• This vehicle is tough, practical and mechanically reliable
• classic styling, very unique looking and still draws admiring looks from bystanders.
• It has fairly luxurious interior, huge cargo space with plenty of headroom,
• Most vehicles in this class need absolutely NO mechanical repairs even after 100,000 miles!  This car is so strong that it appears that it will run forever.

Cons

• It feels little over-sized on urban streets.
• It gets poor mileage (12 in town and 17 on the road), however its durability creates a better carbon footprint than buying something new.
• It does not have airbags, factory cruise control and anti lock brakes.
• The 155 HP engine is under powered for taking on steep slopes, but the engine is as reliable as new.

Here are the Average Ratings out of 10 from US News Ratings and Reviews

• 8.2         Overall Rating
• 9.0        Quality
• 7.9        Interior
• 7.8        Styling
• 6.3        Performance
• 8.8        Recommendation

We have many happy customers worldwide who have purchased used Land Cruiser SUVs from us.  If you wish to import used Land Cruiser from Japan, please get in touch with us with your requirements and we can find the best vehicle to suit your requirements.

Technorati Tags: SUV, Toyota, Toyota Land Cruiser, used Land Cruiser, Japan