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Half of Chinese car buyers won't shop Japanese over hard feelings

The hard feelings between China and Japan is no real secret. Besides modern-day disputes, the two countries have had a long-running enmity that dates back to well before the atrocities of World War II. All things considered, then, it shouldn't be a shock that half of Chinese car buyers wouldn't consider a Japanese car. This survey, conducted by Bernstein Research, found that 51 percent of 40,000 Chinese consumers wouldn't even consider a Japanese car – which, again, isn't really surprising, when you consider stories like this. According to Bernstein, the most troubling thing is the location of these sentiments – smaller, growing cities where the population is going to need sets of wheels. We imagine it wouldn't be as big of an issue in traffic-clogged Shanghai or Beijing, but these small cities are going to become a major focus for automakers. "Nationalistic feelings are an impediment. [Japanese] premium brands will struggle," analyst Max Warburton wrote in a research note, according to The Wall Street Journal. Things will improve for Japanese makes, although China will remain a challenge, with Warburton writing, "the one thing that comes out most clearly is that most Chinese really want a German car. While we expect Japanese brands to continue to recover market share this year, ultimately the market will belong to the Germans." There are a few other insights from the study. According to WSJ, Japanese brands are viewed better than Korean brands, and they're seen as more comfortable than the offerings from Germany or the US, despite the fact that everyone in China apparently wants a German car. This is a tough position for the Japanese makes to be in, as there's really not a lot they can do to win favor with Chinese buyers. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, particularly as the importance of the PRC continues to increase year after year. News Source: The Wall Street Journal - sub. req.Image Credit: Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP / Getty Images Honda Mazda Nissan Toyota Car Buying

Nissan NV400 becomes Japan's first electric ambulance

Consumer passenger cars aren't the only vehicles undergoing electric transformations. We've seen the introduction of early electric fire trucks, and now Japan is getting its first electric ambulance. It's a Nissan NV400, and it will be used by the Tokyo Fire Department at the Ikebukuro station. Though badged as a Nissan, the NV400 is at its heart a Renault Master Z.E. electric van. The powertrain is the same as the French van with a 33-kilowatt-hour battery (7 kWhs less than the base Nissan Leaf) and a 55-kW motor driving the front wheels. That translates to 74 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque. That doesn't sound like much, but in as dense a city as Tokyo, it's not likely the NV400 will be able to reach high speeds at all, even if it had a Hellcat engine. There are a couple of unique additions to the van to enhance its ambulance capability. One is the inclusion of a separate 8-kWh lithium-ion battery that can operate all the equipment on board for long periods of time without eating into the ambulance's range. It can even be used like a generator to provide power to external emergency equipment. Then there's the stretcher, which Nissan vaguely says is electrified to make it easier to use by the medical personnel. We presume the stretcher has an electric motor to make it easier to push around. Since neither the NV400 nor its Renault counterpart is sold here, we're not expecting to see one of these ambulances in the U.S. any time soon. But electric versions of local emergency vehicles seem like a good idea, since range wouldn't be an issue, and the torque would be useful in large vehicles. Ford is readying an electric full-size Transit, which is offered in America in gas versions. Perhaps we could see some electric Ford ambulances in the near future. Related Video:

Nissan NV200 Chicago Taxi looking for a #HailYes

Nissan may be loaning out its small van to General Motors for its Chicago Auto Show debut, but that doesn't mean that Chevrolet is the only one with new NV200-based wares to share. On the heels of launching its Taxi Of Tomorrow for New York City, the Japanese automaker is giving America's Second City a livery of its own.
Shown here in a green and white paint scheme that "expresses a modern take on a historically popular Chicago taxi color," this NV200 Chicago Taxi is the company's less-than-subtle bid to capture some of the city's cab business, which is estimated to have about 7,000 units in service. Nissan is urging the public to generate discussion on social media and hopefully capture local taxi fleet operators' attention with a #HailYes campaign.
Beyond its unique appearance, this NV200 appears untouched, which means it's still powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine backed by a version of Nissan's ubiquitous XTronic continuously variable transmission.