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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.

Mazda's Skyactiv-X power and efficiency ratings released in Europe

Mazda's long-awaited Skyactiv-X engine is finally headed for production, though not yet for the United States. The Japanese automaker says "various European countries" will get access to the unique engine in the Mazda3 starting this fall. Still, the announcement is relevant to the rest of us because we now have official power levels and fuel efficiency numbers that we can use to compare the Skyactiv-X with other engines offered in the compact Mazda. First, the power. According to Mazda, the 2.0-liter Skyactiv-X makes 178 horsepower and 165 pound-feet of torque. By way of comparison, the 2.5-liter Skyactiv-G engine currently used in the Mazda3 here in the States makes 186 hp and 186 lb-ft of torque. Sure, it's a little less powerful, but note that the displacements don't match and remember that the real reason the Skyactiv-X exists is to reduce fuel consumption. And that brings us to the Skyactiv-X's combined rating of around 53.5 miles per gallon (converted from liters per 100 kilometers). That's around 8 mpg better than the 2.0-liter engine that comes standard in Europe. Before we go any further, it's important to note that these numbers represent official figures for the European NEDC combined cycle, which means they are not directly comparable to the ratings we'll get from the United States EPA. Our official ratings will almost certainly be lower. With that disclaimer out of the way, the 2.5-liter Mazda3 scores a combined 30 mpg here in the States. The obvious unanswered question is when the Skyactiv-X might actually come to America. And the unfortunate answer is that we don't know. Mazda has yet to make an official decision on timing for the U.S market's launch of the engine, but as soon as we know, so will you.

Mazda says Skyactiv-X will come to the U.S, but not when

Mazda executives say the new 2.0-liter Skyactiv-X powerplant will still take some time to arrive to the North American market. The Skyactiv-X is a high-compression gasoline engine, and its 16:1 compression ratio is comparable to that of a diesel engine. "We have a lot of technology. And we are introducing each technology in each region when the time is right," said Mazda North America CEO Masahiro Moro at the SAE International WCX Conference, according to Automotive News. Moro stated that while the Skyactiv-X can indeed pass EPA emissions regulations, it's not in the immediate pipeline for U.S-bound Mazdas; the slightly less hardcore Skyactiv-G will be amended first. The launch-spec 2.5-liter Skyactiv-G engine in the new Mazda 3 will reportedly be supplemented by a 2.0-liter Skyactiv-G, which also has a bold compression ratio: according to Mazda, its ratio of 14:1 is the highest of any production gasoline engine. However, Moro didn't state the exact timeline for that Skyactiv-G's arrival, either. The compression ratio of the 2.5-liter "big block" available now is 13:1. In the 2019 model-year Miata roadster, the 2.0-liter Skyactiv-G makes 181 horsepower, and an earlier Slovakian Euro-spec leak mentioned the 2.0-liter 3's power figure at 164hp. The bottom line is thermal efficiency through being able to extract more energy out of gasoline, and moving from G to X would improve fuel economy by 20-30 percent while giving more power. If the Slovakian specifications are to be believed, the Skyactiv-X would make 178h p and 164 lb-ft in the Mazda3.