Archive for the ‘Japan’ Category

Speaking at a World Economic Forum in New Delhi, Carlos Ghosn -- head of Nissan Motor Company and Renault SA -- had some interesting things to say about the global auto industry. Among the most notable and encouraging items, Ghosn believes that the international sales slump has ended and that the industry is beginning to rebound. He had previously predicted global sales to ring in around 55 million units, but has now upgraded that figure to 60 million. (For reference, 2008 and 2007 each saw sales in the 70-million-unit range.)

Like his rivals at Toyota, Ghosn attributes much of the rebound to sales incentives offered by governments around...

We've mentioned before that the Mazda Miata (aka the Roadster or the MX-5) is celebrating its 20th birthday. In fact, we may have mentioned it a couple of times. But since we're such fans, what the hell: let's go for a third. Mazda has devoted an entire website to the little car on its big milestone, complete with clips from a recent Miata rally  (none of which are embeddable) and what we assume is other nifty stuff, though we can't be sure because the site's Japanese-only. Still, Miata fans should get a kick out of it. Others might want to check Bengt Halvorson's recent review of the 2010 Miata, just to see what the excitement's about....

Tech fans and early adopters, take note: Panasonic is prepping for the Japanese release of its new in-dash high-def navigation system and an in-car Blu-ray player. The latter is pretty standard, although its ¥99,750 ($1080) price tag isn't. However, that's nothing compared to the satnav, which not only plays media, but also provides navigation assistance via Windows Automotive, Google Maps, and Yahoo! Japan. The retail? ¥365,400 ($3,955). No word on when these babies will come to America, but we hope it'll be a while -- we need to save some pennies. [Engadget]