Shiotsu Autotrade - President’s Blog

Last week I visited Mumbai in India on a business cum pleasure trip just for 3 days. I was happy that my friend Raj showed me few landmarks of Mumbai city during my busy schedule there.

I was impressed by the hectic life in Mumbai city with heavy traffic of cars. Though I could see many modern types of  cars from Suzuki, Toyota, Tata, and Hyundai in Mumbai, I was particularly happy to see the famous Ambassador car there.

There are not many Ambassador cars in Mumbai these days - the only few Ambassadors are used for taxi or by top political leaders. However, it still remains one of the most popular cars of India.

Ambassador was the first car to be manufactured in India, and it has been ruling the Indian roads for over five decades, ever since its inception in 1948. The car has been undergoing a series of changes, adapting to customer expectations. but it has retained its classic shape. It is the grand old car of the Indian automotive industry.

Its tough body is suited to Indian roads, and it is spacious enough for big Indian families. With a sturdy body, easy technology and low maintenance costs, the car has made it to the most preferred car for generations of Indians.

In India, taxis are found in two colors. The blue ones are airconditioned and are little expernsive. The normal taxis are yellow and black.

Most of the standard taxis in Mumbai, the Premier Padmini model is a favorite. Premier Padmini was based on 1963 Fiat 1100 design and has been manufactured in India since 1968 to 2000. This car too has ruled the Indian roads for over four decades.

Technorati Tags: Mumbai, India, Suzuki, Toyota, Ambassador, car

According to consumer reports recently rated six sedans in the upscale segment. Three Japanese cars , Infinity G35 from Nissan, Lexus ES 350 from Toyota and Nissan mixima found their way among the top. At the top of the list,comes the Infinity G35 ,with a combination of sporty performance, best luxury and handling.
INFINITY G35: The rear-wheel-drive journey version,it has got a 3.5 liter V6 engine which delivers 306 horse power, it comes with optional sunroof and power adjustable steering wheel. The quick ,agile and sporty sedan delivered 19 mpg in mixed highway and city driving on premium fuel. The all wheel drive G35X costs about $2000 more than the version tested which costed $35,140.Though a slight loss of fuel economy was reported in the G35X version.

LEXUS ES350: The lexus ES350 is lavish in contrast with the sporty infinity.The ES350 provides a big luxury car feel and refinement in a trim package.The 3.5 liter ,272 horse power V6 version tested was smooth,delivered quick acceration and a good 23 mpg overall on premium fuel. The few negatives for this sedan are limited rear-seat head-room and rearward visibility;the handling is sound ,not sporty.The ES350 tested cost $41289 and come with optional navigational system,cooled seats and power -adjustable steering column.

NISSAN MAXIMA; The 3.5 liter v6 255 horse powered 3.5SL version tested has a roomy interior,logical quick acceleration. However,the ride is not all that great;steering wheel pulls hard under acceleration and handling is not agile.The tested maxima 3.5SL has optional stability control, sunroof ,memory seats,and power-adjustable steering column,and cost $ 33,715.

LINCOLN MKZ,BUICK LUCERNA CXS and SAAB 9-5 were the other cars that ranked below the japanese cars in the upscale sedan segment.
The Buick lucerna cxs is a full-size car sold by the buick division of general motors that repalced the park avenue and the lesabre in 2006.
If you don`t need sportiness or opulence in your car,consider high-end V6 versions of Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. These family sedans are equally good in performance and amenities while costing much less.

Technorati Tags: Japanese cars, Infinity G35, Lexus ES 350, Nissan mixima, sedan, Honda Accord, Toyota Camry

Kelley Blue Book Co. - a US company providing information on new and used cars has picked the Honda Acura passenger car 2007 model as the potentially most valuable used car five years ahead in the US auto market. Used car prices quoted by Kelley Blue Book serve as key benchmarks in the US market for secondhand vehicles.

Honda Acura is a dream car for drivers looking for comfort, driving performance and quality fuel economy. It is the first time a Japanese car has made the top of Kelley Blue Book Co’s list on the value of used passenger vehicles five years from now since the company began compiling the list for 2005 vehicles.

Japanese car models, including the Toyota Prius hybrid sedan, filled five slots of the top 10 list, whereas only one US brand made its way onto the list. German automaker BMW topped the lists of 2005 and 2006 models.

Technorati Tags: Kelley Blue Book, used cars, Honda Acura, Honda, Japanese car, Toyota, Prius

The redesigned Toyota Camry, the hottest-selling car in America, has been declared as the Car of the Year 2007 by Motor Trend, the world’s automotive authority and part of PRIMEDIA’s Consumer Automotive Group.  The award announced yesterday goes to the entire Camry range, including the Camry Hybrid. Last year’s winner was the Honda Civic.

‘Toyota Camry is a car that is innovative yet has a broad mainstream appeal. This is one of the toughest tasks facing any automaker.  The Camry is the one car rival automakers all wish they could build. It offers something for nearly everyone - performance, efficiency and space - at a price most Americans can afford’, magazine Editor-in-Chief, Angus MacKenzie, said in a statement. The Japanese car maker offers the Camry in various models - with a regular four cylinder engine, or a sporty V-6 that enables it to hit 60 mph in just six seconds.  Fuel economy conscious buyers can choose the Camry Hybrid, which uses the same innovative hybrid powertrain technology used in Toyota’s Prius to save gas.

The Camry beat 26 other models that were totally new or redesigned in the year prior to Jan. 1, 2007 - comprising six models from the U.S., 10 from Japan, five from Korea, four from Germany, one from the U.K., and one from Sweden.

Camry won in a very strong competitive field. There have never been more choices available to American car buyers. That is a fact of life in the 21st century. According to Autodata Corp. Toyota sold 350,481 Camrys this year through October to lead all cars in U.S. sales. The No. 2 car in sales is Toyota’s Corolla at 330,995.

Toyota, the world’s second largest automaker, last won Car of the Year in 2004 for its redesigned Prius hybrid. Toyota’s Tacoma pickup was Motor Trend’s Truck of the Year in 2005.

Technorati Tags: Toyota, Camry, Car, Honda, Japanese, Hybrid, Japan, Corolla, Truck

When it comes to Japanese Sports cars, people normally think of Mitsubishi’s Evolution, Subaru WRX STI, Nissan’s reborn Z,  Mazda RX-8 and MX-5 (Miata). These are today’s best sports and performance cars come from the land of rising sun, Japanese auto makers may not have have 50 or 100 years of great performance models to draw on, but the ones they’ve made in the last 40 years or so are now immensly popular among collectors.

Here are some popular sports cars from Japan

Third-Generation Mazda RX-7  It is a serious sports car from Mazda with 255-horsepower, twin-turbo engine. In Japan, Mazda sold the RX-7 through its Efini brand as the Efini RX-7. It is an outright, no-compromise sports car by Japanese standards. It features an aerodynamic, futuristic-looking body design.  All 3rd Generation RX-7s (1993-present) are twin sequential turbo, twin rotor 13B-REW engines. The RX-7 is considered as a popular choice in import drag racing.

Honda Acura NSX  2005 was the final model year for Honda’s fabulous mid-engine exotic, which first came to market in 1991. When the NSX was introduced back in 1991, Honda was at the peak of its glory days in Formula 1. So everyone could have expected from the engine supplier of the Formula 1 champion a great car. It has a high-tech aluminum body/chassis structure, a high-winding V-6, sound ergonomics, and quality and reliability that Italian car enthusiasts can only dream about. Many of them have been extensively modified and/or driven hard; but find a well-maintained, mid-1990s manual-transmission-equipped example, and you’ll have a capable exotic you can drive every day. The most important thing about the NSX is that it is surely a supercar but, still, it is as friendly to drive as you surely wouldn’t expect from a supercar. To make it simpler, the NSX is as exciting and fast as a Ferrari and as friendly as a Civic.

Toyota MR2  The Toyota MR2 was a two-seat, mid-engined, rear wheel drive sports car produced by Toyota from 1984 to 2005, in three different design series. The-second generation MR2 was often called the Baby Ferrari 308. The third-generation car, which just went out of production, combined an open-roadster body with a mid-engine layout. Both are cool, fun to drive, and destined to become recognized by enthusiast collectors. Toyota’s reliability and legendary build quality are a plus, and parts are still plentiful. With its mid/rear engine and small size, the MR2 is often compared to more exotic sports cars.

If you wish to import used sports and performance cars from Japan, we would be glad to help you.

Technorati Tags: Japanese, Sports cars, Nissan, Mazda, performance cars, Japan, Honda, Toyota

Mercury News recently reported that Toyota Corollas are the bestselling cars ever in the American market. The Japanese automaker has sold more than 31 million Corollas since 1966. Yes, Toyota Corolla may not have those sexy looks which will turn heads while driving around town, but it is a reliable workhorse and that makes it a hotseller based on its performance, affordability, quality and fuel economy. Corolla has appeal both as a new and used vehicle. It’s many people’s first new car, and it is considered valuable even by its third or fourth users.

This year Corolla celebrates its 40th anniversary - the first Corolla was sold in Japan in 1966. It was introduced in the United States two years later. At present Corolla is assembled in USA, Canada, Brazil, Venezuela, Turkey, the United Kingdom, South Africa, China, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam - apart from Japan.

Why Corolla has maintained its popularity over the years?  It’s a car that meets the needs of most consumers on an everyday basis.  It is one of the 10 most fuel-efficient passenger cars, according to the US government’s most recent list. The Corolla gets 32 miles per gallon (mpg) in the city and 41 mpg on the highway with manual transmission, or 30 mpg in the city and 38 mpg with an automatic transmission. It simply does not have any flaws, and that is the reason it never comes up in any controversial reports. Toyota has consistently maintained the quality over the years, and this was possible only because of Toyota’s concept of Kaizen - or continuos improvement in quality.

The Corolla has changed over the years, which is not a surprise for a 40-year-old product. The first Corolla car launched in 1966, the KE1x series was small, with a 90 in (2286 mm) wheelbase, and used a 4-speed manual transmission or 2 speed automatic transmission, with rear wheel drive. It has grown from a subcompact to a compact model. It’s currently sold as a four-door, five-passenger sedan in most countries, but it has been a coupe, a hatchback and a wagon at various times in its life. Around the world, Toyota sells Fielder, Runx, Spacio and Verso versions of the Corolla.  Toyota’s evolution will continue.  For 2008, Toyota will introduce a hybrid gasoline–electric Corolla.

Technorati Tags: Japanese, Toyota, Corolla, used vehicle, new car, Japan, Kaizen, car, hybrid

Toyota and Honda ranked top in the US government’s annual top-10 fuel economical cars list this year.  With 60 miles per gallon in the city and 51 mpg on the highway, The 2007 hybrid-electric Toyota Prius ranked first while the Honda Civic Hybrid was second with 49 mpg in the city and 51 mpg on the highway. Out of the top 10 vehicles, 7 were from Honda and Toyota. The new Toyota Camry Hybrid raked at No. 3, with 40 mpg in the city and 38 mpg on the highway. The most fuel-efficient sport utility vehicle was from Ford Motor Co.; Escape Hybrid front-wheel drive, which was fourth with 36 mpg in the city and 31 mpg on the highway.

Six gas-only vehicles made the top 10: the manual version of the Honda Fit, the manual Toyota Corolla, manual and automatic versions of the Toyota Yaris, and manual versions of the Kia Rio and Hyundai Accent.

Luxury cars were among the least fuel-efficient cars in this survey. The worst performer was Lamborghini L-147/148 Murcielago with 9 mpg in the city and 14 mpg on the highway.

The US government compiles the list based on information from manufacturers. Every year millions of Americans buy new and used cars.  These consumers can make more educated decision in buying the cas based on this fuel economy information compiled by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy of US government.

Technorati Tags: Toyota, Honda, car, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, Hybrid, Corolla, fuel economy