2010 Black Cloth Sunroof V6 Dohc Lifetime Warranty We Finance 81k Miles on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Japanese automakers welcome North American trade deal, fear what's next

TOKYO — Toyota, Nissan and Mazda welcomed on Tuesday the revised North America trade deal that left Japanese automakers unscathed, but they may face a bumpy ride when Washington and Tokyo hold new talks on over $40 billion of annual U.S. auto imports from Japan. The United States and Canada reached an agreement on Sunday to update the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement after Washington had forged a separate trade deal with Mexico in August. The updated deal effectively maintains the auto industry's current footprint in North America, and spares Canada and Mexico from the prospect of U.S. national security tariffs on their vehicles. Mazda, which ships cars to the United States from Mexico and Japan, called the deal a "big step forward". Nissan, which makes the cars it sells in the United States locally as well as in Mexico, Japan and other countries, said it was "encouraged" by the agreement. Toyota, Japan's biggest automaker, said it was "pleased" that a basic deal was reached. Other automakers were not immediately available for comment. While the deal has removed the risk that the disintegration of the pact would have posed to automakers, bigger risks loom large for Japanese firms as a chunk of the roughly 7 million cars they sold in the U.S. last year were shipped from Japan, and a trade deal between Washington and Tokyo has yet to be agreed. The United States and Japan last week agreed to begin fresh trade talks, with U.S. President Donald Trump seeking to address Japan's $69 billion trade surplus, of which nearly two-thirds comes from auto exports. Washington is also investigating the possibility of slapping 25 percent tariffs on auto imports on national security grounds, although it has agreed with Japan to put any new tariffs on hold during the talks. Analysts say the United States may take a tougher stance on auto imports from Japan than from its neighbors. "If Japan requests an exemption from the 25 percent tariffs under consideration, Washington could propose a more strict cap on imports than it agreed to with Mexico and Canada," said Koji Endo, senior analyst at SBI Securities. "That would be a risk." This could be a big blow to Japan, as the United States is a key source of revenue for Japanese automakers including Toyota, Nissan and Honda. The U.S. market accounts for a quarter or more of their annual global vehicle sales, and of their total U.S.

Nissan, least profitable Japanese automaker in Q3, stays strong on EVs

Nissan had some not-so-good financial news to report today. Despite a 57-percent net income increase, Nissan was Japan's least-profitable carmaker for the third quarter of last year. A weak yen helped put the company's operating profit below the estimates of financial analysts. In a speech on the financial situation, Nissan corporate vice president Joji Tagawa said "These results, however, do not reflect the full potential of Nissan." Given our focus on expensive electric vehicles, among other things, we wondered how this might affect EVs. One of the financial analysts told Bloomberg that the news is a "crisis" at the company, but the official word is that things are steady as she goes on the EV front. In his speech, Tagawa reaffirmed the company's strong belief in plug-in vehicles, saying that "Nissan's EV strategy will accelerate with the launch in fiscal 2014 of the e-NV200, the second all-electric model available globally." That electric van has the potential "to transform emissions among commercial vehicles" and Nissan remains interested in initiatives such as EV carsharing in Japan and the continued deployment of charging infrastructure. The speech transcript is available below. In a statement to AutoblogGreen, Billy Hayes, Nissan's vice president and program director, said that, "Nissan considers zero emission vehicles to be the ultimate solution for realizing sustainable mobility in the future and is strongly committed to EV technologies. Nissan's investment in Leaf and EV technology is positive for the company's business results over the lifecycle, and accelerating sales of Leaf only help to build economies of scale and improve the business model for the technology further." FY13 3Q financial results Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. Joji Tagawa, Corporate Vice President Introduction For the nine-month period, Nissan has made solid progress to improve its business performance. The pro forma nine-month financial results, and particularly those of the third quarter, are up compared to the same period last year, despite intense competition and uncertain economic conditions. These results, however, do not reflect the full potential of Nissan. Looking ahead to the quarter ending March 31, 2014, we expect to continue to improve our business results and as such, we are maintaining our prior profit outlook for the fiscal year.

Nissan recalling 2012-14 Frontier pickups over fire risk

Nissan is recalling its Frontier pickup over fire concerns, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration bulletin. A total of 13,535 vehicles are being recalled, all from the 2012 to 2014 model years, built between November 28, 2012 and December 27, 2013.
The NHTSA report states that "in the affected vehicles, a circuit breaker may have been installed incorrectly causing the main wire harness connected to the circuit breaker to face outward, potentially contacting a metal bolt located on the A-pillar." If this happens, it's possible that "the bolt may wear though the wire harness covering, resulting in an electrical short," NHTSA states. In the event of an electric short, a fire may occur.
The official recall will begin in March, where Nissan dealers will inspect the circuit breaker for the correct orientation, and if necessary, repair the vehicles, free of charge. Scroll down for the full NHTSA bulletin.