Raw Japan

Yes, there is a difference between American and Japanese cars

By Bob Lutz The opinions expressed are his own.

A lot of words have been written in the past few post-tsunami weeks about the negative impact of the disastrous tragedy on the short-term future of Japanese cars in the U.S. market. In parallel, many articles proclaim this to be a “historical window of opportunity” for the “Detroit Three,” now able to deliver to waiting customers an abundant supply of new vehicles while, at Toyota, Honda and Nissan, the cupboard is bare.

It’s telling that we’re *not* hearing the Japanese-brands inspired propaganda offensive of a few years back, when the media duly repeated that “there is no longer such a thing as an American car or a Japanese car.” The Japanese, it was stated, now all have plants in the U.S., whereas most U..S companies import components from the Far East, or Latin America,  thus compromising the promise of saving U.S. jobs. For buyers with a patriotic streak, it was all-American-apple-pie-OK to buy a Japanese brand, these being “just as American” as a Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge or Jeep. The (then) World’s Smartest and Finest Car Company, Toyota, even placed ads asking who’s more American? Toyota USA, adding manufacturing jobs and plants in the U.S., or the Detroit Three, busily, at that time, laying off workers and shuttering plants?

Fast-forward to the earthquake and tidal wave of 2011: the allegedly red-white-and blue Japanese brands suddenly find their supply lines dried up, while the supposedly import-component laden domestic cars, (albeit with some minor work-around shortages) continue to deliver a river of new vehicles, unabated. And, thus, another popular myth bites the dust.

In the past months the Detroit Three have, in fact, come roaring back. The Chevrolet Malibu, the 2007 “Car of the Year,” has shouldered past the Japanese brands and is now the number one car in the mid-size segment. Even more astonishing is the Chevrolet “Cruze,” a best seller around the world, and now America’s number one compact car, relegating the perennial favorites, Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla, to the runner-up spots.

Will all this Detroit resurgence be reversed when Japanese car supplies build up again? I predict it will not.

The current weakness of the Japanese brands goes beyond the natural catastrophe that slowed output. The roots of the end of the nation’s infatuation with Japanese cars go way deeper; more profound, underlying factors are at work. The manifest ineptness on the part of Toyota in dealing with the unintended acceleration crisis has permanently taken that company from “God-like” to “just another good car company.” They, and other Japanese brands, have also suddenly developed a curious inability to produce winning designs. Gone are the Hondas that scream “buy me” thanks to their lovely proportions and superb interior: evidence of the cost-cutting now abounds.

from Russell Boyce:

The politics of bowing in Japan – How low do you go?

By Michael Caronna, Chief Photographer Japan

In Japan nothing says I'm sorry like a nice, deep bow, and lately there's been a whole lot to be sorry for. Ideally the depth of the bow should match the level of regret, allowing observers to make judgements about how sincere the apology really is. Facing massive recalls Toyota President Akio Toyoda and Toyota Motor Corp's managing director Yuji Yokoyama faced journalists at separate news conferences.

Toyota Motor Corp's managing director Yuji Yokoyama (R) bows after submitting a document of a recall to an official of the Transport Ministry Ryuji Masuno (2nd R) at the Transport Ministry in Tokyo February 9, 2010. Toyota Motor Corp is recalling nearly half a million of its flagship Prius and other hybrid cars for braking problems, a third major recall since September and a further blow to the reputation of the world's largest automaker.      REUTERS/Toru Hanai

Toyota Motor Corp President Akio Toyoda bows at the start of a news conference in Nagoya, central Japan February 5, 2010. Toyota Motor Corp President Toyoda apologised on Friday for a massive global recall that has tarnished the reputation of the world's largest car maker. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Electric dreams

The Tokyo Motor Show later this month is expected to be a very understated event, with foreign carmaker participation almost nil and outlays by Japanese firms reflecting hard times in the industry.

But Electric Vehicles, or EVs, and hybrids will be on display in force, with Toyota, Honda and Nissan giving previews ahead of the late October show.

Honda’s new wheel

It looks deceptively simple: a stool with a wheel, or an electric unicycle.

But Honda Motor, maker of cars, motorbikes, robots and aircraft, says it embodies state-of-the-art technology and may one day become the smallest means of transport for humans.

I saw the new U3-X at a Honda media launch. It’s shaped like a figure-8 and moves in any direction set by the person sitting on top, by leaning their body back, forth and sideways.

It weighs in at under 22 lb (10 kg), runs about an hour on one charge of its battery at up to about 4 mph (6 kph), about the pace of brisk walk.

The machine uses balance control technology developed in its research efforts on its famous Asimo humanoid robot, Honda told us, but is not ready for sale yet as the company is still developing it.

When the company showed the device to reporters, some were quick to ask whether it is Honda’s answer to Segway, a two-wheeled battery-powered scooter, which has come to be seen as a pioneer in futuristic personal mobility.

from Left field:

Will there be a Japanese Grand Prix next year?

Toyota-owned Fuji's announcement that they are pulling the plug on hosting the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix leaves a question mark over the country's future on the championship calendar.

Fuji had been due to host the race next year as part of an agreement to alternate with Honda-owned Suzuka. However since that deal was done, Honda have pulled out of Formula One and may not have too much of an incentive to pick up the slack.

Kazuki Nakajima is the only current Japanese driver on the starting grid and he is a Toyota protege, racing for Toyota-powered Williams.

Honda pulled out for financial reasons, just as Fuji have now done.

Toyota have yet to win a race since their debut in 2002 but have been much more competitive this season than they were last year. What would Honda gain by picking up the tab for a Japanese grand prix without any of their cars present but that could be won by Toyota?

Asked about the situation on Tuesday, a Honda spokesman said Suzuka had made no decision beyond planning to host the race this year and in 2011 and it was now up to Formula One organisers to decide on the fate of next year's race.

Japan is important to give the championship a truly global feel, particularly now that there are no North American races, and has been on the calendar without fail since 1987.

Toyota Prius: Will it live up to its name?

When Honda‘s new Insight hybrid debuted in Japan last month, many journalists referred to it as the “Prius fighter”. Less than two months later, we’re talking about Toyota’s battle to come up with the “Insight fighter”. What gives?

In a word, it’s because Toyota has suddenly begun behaving like a follower — not a leader –in the hybrid field that it has owned for the last 12 years.

Toyota is reportedly planning to knock about $3,000 off the price of the next Prius, a name that means “to go before” in Latin, to 2.05 million yen in Japan to bring it closer to the Insight’s price range.

Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe declined to confirm that at a news conference today, although his roundabout response about having lowered costs and the fierce competition it faces from the Insight seemed like a tacit acknowledgement that the reports were true.

What he did confirm beyond doubt was that Toyota would keep selling the current, 6-year-old Prius in Japan even after the new version comes out. Media reports say that one would be priced right smack in line with the Insight’s 1.89 million yen.

Selling two versions of the same car is rare. When I asked executives in the United States and Europe a few months back, they said they had considered doing it but decided against it because it would be too confusing for the consumer. Watanabe wouldn’t comment on Toyota’s intention outside Japan.

In any case, the reported pricing strategy, if true, would signify a complete reversal of Toyota’s initial plans. High-ranking executives had told me over the months preceding the Insight’s early-February launch that the next Prius would cost more, not less, than the current variant.

Toyota’s long and winding F1 road

For not seeing a win since joining Formula One in 2002, Toyota‘s commitment to the sport is admirable, especially after Honda’s pullout in December left the team the last Japanese standing in the glamour sport.

Toyota have been one of F1′s biggest spenders, with an estimated annual budget of $300 million, previously exceeded only by Honda. But the question for the sport’s perennial underachievers remains just how much cash do they have left to burn?

Team principal Tadashi Yamashima told me on Monday that Toyota had been close to following Honda out of the sport, and the Cologne-based team’s budget has been slashed several times as the world’s No.1 car maker  is set to suffer its first ever annual operating loss.

Honda blamed their own exit from F1 on the need to cut costs and Toyota’s survival in the sport was by no means clear-cut. A renewed sponsorship deal with Japanese electronics giant Panasonic was said to be a factor in their continued F1 presence.

“I had never seen such cost cuts in all my time at Toyota,” Yamashina said, adding that dozens of contract workers lost their jobs as the team was forced to streamline F1 operations.

Still, Toyota are upbeat about their chances in the new season that begins in Melbourne on March 29.

Honda’s Asimo saves the day

Talk about a clever PR ploy. Instead of looking miserly with a subdued presence at the Geneva auto show, Honda Motor drew attention to its latest hybrid car by employing another of its technological wonders: the Asimo humanoid robot.

Japan’s No.2 carmaker usually holds full-blown press conferences at international auto shows as is the industry norm, with the chief executive on hand to talk up the company’s achievements and product offerings in front of hundreds of journalists.

But with cash preservation the name of the game these days, Honda decided to try something else: replace the CEO with the now-famous Asimo, a 120 cm-tall, bubble-headed robot to introduce the Insight hybrid. Asimo is another “product” that Honda hopes to market one day as a “personal mobility” assistant to help the elderly or do simple work around the office such as distributing mail.

“It was cheaper than flying the CEO over from Tokyo for the show,” spokesman Shigeki Endo told me before the show, which opened to the media on Tuesday. This Asimo – Honda has several, including one at its headquarters in Tokyo – resides at a studio in Brussels.

“I’m really interested in hybrid technology,” the bug-eyed Asimo said in a boyish voice after being introduced by another spokesman at the Honda booth at the annual Geneva show.

During a sometimes surreal 20-minute presentation for journalists, Asimo fetched two green teas and stood diligently by the Insight on stage as a spokesman chatted with an engineer about the merits of the Insight, Honda’s first low-cost hybrid car.

Honda’s Insight takes on Prius

It took almost 10 years, but Honda may finally have a hybrid hit on its hands this time.

The five-seater Insight went on sale this month in Japan ahead of other markets and orders have already climbed to 15,000, triple the number Honda hoped to sell on average in a month here.

That’s already just 2,000 shy of the total sales for Honda’s first hybrid car, also called Insight, in its seven years on the market from late 1999.  (The two cars share little more than a name.)

First-month orders are always an anomaly in Japan, where the shelf life for “newness” is punishingly brief. But if the Insight’s response is anything like what the second-generation Prius did for Toyota, Honda is in for a big boost to its already-green image.

So what’s Honda doing differently this time?

In a word, it’s affordability. While past hybrid cars have carried a price premium of roughly $5,000 and upwards over a similar gasoline-engine car, the new Insight starts at just 1.89 million yen ($19,700) in Japan.

Will “Toyoda Restoration” do the trick for Toyota?

Jan. 20 marked a new beginning for more than just Americans, who swore in Barack Obama as their first non-white president in history. It was a big day for the auto industry too: the dawn of a Fiat-Chrysler partnership, and the appointment of a founding family member to the top job at Toyota Motor Corp for the first time in 14 years.

The Toyota move, first flagged in Japanese media a month ago, has been highly sensationalized in Japan.

The local press has likened Akio Toyoda’s nomination to another turning point in Japanese history: the return of power to the imperial family in 1867 from the Tokugawa shogunate, which paved the way for the Meiji Restoration under Emperor Meiji.

“Taisei hokan”, as that historic event is called, has been in the Toyota history lexicon ever since Taizo Ishida somewhat reluctantly took the helm from founder Kiichiro Toyoda in 1950. That year, Kiichiro — Akio’s grandfather — was forced to step down to assuage an angry workforce over sackings that were imperative to saving Toyota from the brink of collapse. Ishida, whose devotion to the Toyoda family is said to have bordered on the religious, vowed to hand back the “throne” to Kiichiro once his duty of fixing the battered company was complete.

Alas, that promise would never come to pass, due to Kiichiro’s sudden death in 1952. It was only 15 years later that the torch returned to the family, with the appointment of Kiichiro’s trusted cousin and apprentice, Eiji Toyoda.

The top job then stayed in the family until 1995, when Tatsuro Toyoda succumbed to illness. His replacement was Hiroshi Okuda, a “numbers guy” whose own father was a stockbroker. That marked the dawn of a new era of management in an industry that found itself steeped in mergers, acquisitions and capital tie-ups formed to survive in what had become a far more competitive world.