Shiotsu Autotrade Japan – President’s Blog

Toyota Launches small car – Etios Liva – in India

After a long time, Toyota is coming up with a small car much to the delight of Indians and families in general.  Toyota’s small car promises to be spectacular and is being specially designed for India.  This way, Toyota plans to enter the Indian car market in a big way.  The small car being carved for the Indian roads is to be named Liva.  Toyota has done a remarkable job with its two thousand engineers carrying out research in both India and Japan.   There is a huge demand for small cars in India and Toyota’s small car model Liva would definitely live up to the expectations of Indian families.

The small car which is going to be designed using the Toyota Etios platform is not very expensive and is expected to be a rage among Indian families.  Before entering other markets, Toyota wishes to launch Etios Liva in India due to the huge demand for small cars in this market.  In December 2010, when Etios Sedan made its debut, it was a huge success and has sold over a good twenty thousand units till date.  This has really set Toyota thinking and the giant car maker believes that Liva would take it to the top of the car manufacturers list in India.

The managing director of Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) – a joint venture between Toyota Motors, Japan and Kirloskar, India-  has stated that the car markets of Japan and United States are saturated and they would now like to focus their attention on China, India, Russia and Brazil.  In the year 2011, TKM expects its car sales of Etios and Liva to reach a good 140,000 units.  In the year 2012, TKM expects the sales of small cars to reach 210,000 units.  This definitely is great news for the giant car maker.

It is interesting to note that the market share of Toyota stands at a good 3.3 percent.  By the year 2015, Toyota expects its car sales to reach 350,000 car units.  Industry experts have predicted that with Liva and Etios being developed and designed on the same platform, Toyota would be able to save a good fifteen percent of the production costs on each car.  Read the rest of this entry »

Japanese Automakers Juggle Work Days

The tsunami and earthquake which shook Fukushima is also affecting the Japanese industry and causing plenty of misery. The car industry which is the lifeline of Japan is also greatly affected. The supply of electricity across Japan has also been greatly affected and this is affecting the production of cars. It has been unanimously decided by the Japanese car industry that there would be no work on Thursdays and Fridays in the following month and all the work would be shifted to weekends. This makes great sense as it would definitely ease the burden on the electricity providers of Japan.

As plenty of other industries would not be working during the weekends, supply of electricity can be transferred to the car manufacturing industries. This definitely comes as a welcome move as the economy is really down. You would be surprised to know that Japan boasts of a good fifty six nuclear plants. But due to the havoc caused by the tsunami and earthquake, only seventeen nuclear plants are working. It is estimated that another twelve nuclear plants would be shut altogether due to protests from local groups.

The government is also under increasing pressure from the Japanese industry to rebuild the coastal areas along the eastern region which suffered greatly due to the natural calamities. In fact, there are also talks about the entire Japanese industry working during weekends in order to prevent the power supply from completely going down during peak hours. In order to cut down the demand for electricity, the office buildings in Japan have decided to switch off the corridor lights. The number of lifts has also been reduced and the settings and specifications of the air conditioners have been greatly modified.

You would be amazed to note that the workers are also contributing for this great cause. They have been asked to wear casual clothes which would include sneakers, cotton pants that are light and tropical shirts that can be worn without being tucked. The workers have been asked to avoid ties and dark suits that are formal. The giant auto makers of Japan employ a good ten thousand workers and all these wonderful moves towards conservation of electricity would definitely help them to get back to one hundred percent production.

Europe and USA have placed large orders with the Japanese car companies Read the rest of this entry »

Nissan develops roadside service vehicle with a charging system

The consequences of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan earlier this year started showing its effects worldwide. To combat the huge shortage of power, the Japanese have voluntarily started saving power through as many means as possible with a motive to save the future of the nation. Electric vehicles such as Nissan Leaf gain a huge popularity in this power saving era due to their power saving initiative. However, there are chances that at times that the car may get stranded on the road due to a fall in the vehicle’s battery which happens as a result of incomplete charging.

But now, the drivers of Nissan Leaf will not have to face any such occurrence of dead batteries as a rescue team will come to save them from the disaster. A five-tonne diesel truck recharged by a high-powered diesel generator will be used to rescue the Nissan electric cars that runs out of juice in Japan. The stuck Leaf is plug into the EV Rescue Vehicle for a 20-minute charge, which suffices for about 40km. Consumer research demonstrates that this range satisfies the daily driving requirements of more than 70% of the world’s consumers who drive cars.

Nissan LEAF is a critical first step in establishing the era of zero-emission mobility. Running the cars on the themes of saving energy has been one such benchmark initiative by the Japanese automakers in the zero emission eras.

Electric vehicles runs on natural resources and thereby saves the future while protecting the environment. Electric car machine requires fewer parts for car mechanism, less economic structure, and most importantly is cheaper than available fuel powered cars. Most impressive feature of electric cars is that it lowers down the air and noise pollution ratio.

However, since the electric vehicles do not give a long range, many consumers hesitate to opt for it. To travel long distance in these electric cars, a good number of infrastructures for recharging the batteries throughout the country is required.  The EV rescue vehicle by Nissan will turn a great savior in case your car gets stranded at the middle of your journey.

According to news sources, the rescue truck has been called out 86 times in less than a year, with 73 of those to recharge a drained battery. The program is currently running on a trial basis in Nissan’s home of Kanagawa, south of Tokyo, till the end of this year. It will prove useful in both improving Nissan’s after sales service and reducing the anxiety of range among the users.

While zero-emission is the ultimate goal, Nissan is committed to continue developing innovating eco-friendly technologies that increase efficiency and reduce emissions.  More and more consumers seem to be interested in opting for electric cars as this seems to be a great initiative in the wake of the energy shortages the world is facing.