Japan used car

Importers of reconditioned vehicles are now in a frenzy to import vehicles from Japan apprehending a hike in duty, possible tougher import policy in the budget to be announced today (Monday) and stiff competition with the brand new vehicle importers.

A specialised ship named MV Lilac Ace from Japan with a consignment of 1988 vehicles, mostly car and micro, worth around Tk 200 crore is due to arrive Chittagong port this afternoon, sources said.

They said this will be the largest-ever single consignment of imported reconditioned vehicles in Bangladesh, clearly showing a sharp growth in recent time in the import of such vehicles.

Port sources said the capacity of four sheds is around 2,800 while there are currently 2,292 vehicles in those sheds and it would not be possible to provide space for all the 1,988 vehicles coming on Monday.

“Although prices for vehicle increased significantly in recent years, the demand for it hasn’t affected at all,” said Abdul Hamid Sharif, secretary general of Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicle Importers and Dealers Association (Barvida). READ MORE…

Government’s new motor-tax regime could drive up auto prices on small cars, stoke competition, and put used-car dealers out of business, according to chief spokesman Kenneth Shaw.

Shaw, the president of the Jamaica Used Car Dealers Association (JUCDA), went as far Monday to predict that the sector could fold.

Shaw later told Wednesday Business that the used-car sector’s profit margins are about three to four per cent, and that JUCDA, based on its assessment of the new tax structure, anticipates a total erosion of that cushion.

“If this policy is allowed to continue as it’s announced, then you won’t have a used-car sector anymore,” he said, speaking Monday as invited guest at the Rotary Club of St Andrew North’s weekly dinner meeting. READ MORE…

Blood on the showroom floor. It’s a buyer’s market as car sales slump. Plummeting car sales have led to a slump in prices.

Comparing March 2008 to March 2007, sales from the public to dealers are down nearly 21%, private sales are down by over 7%, while sales from dealers to the public are down nearly 20%. Sales from dealer to dealer have fallen nearly 28%, while registrations of used imports of have dropped nearly 18%.

Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car buyer’s Dog & Lemon Guide, says that a combination of factors has hit vehicle sales.

“First, the economy is in decline, which has made buyers suddenly cautious. Second, the new vehicles on sale were ordered during boomtimes, so there’s now an oversupply. Third, although overall imports of Japanese secondhand vehicles are falling, a few dealers brought in vast numbers of vehicles in anticipation of tighter government controls on vehicle emissions. There are now too many vehicles chasing too few buyers.” READM MORE…

Questionable practices, including under-invoicing, by some used car dealers are primarily responsible for the major decline in the “reconditioned” car market in Barbados.

That was the response of a number of the island’s established automobile dealers to charges last week by used car sellers that the $4 000 environmental levy imposed by the last Government on each imported used car was a result of lobbying by new car dealers who wanted to drive them out of business.

Roger Hill, managing director of Nassco Limited, agents of Toyota, said he knew of no discussion between new car dealers and Government on the subject, while Simpson Motors general manager Debbie Simpson said their discussions with authorities over the years related to making new cars more affordable to consumers. READ MORE…

SEVERAL USED car dealers, who once imported the popular reconditioned vehicles, have closed their car dealerships.

And Barbadians shopping for such vehicles are finding them more and more difficult to come by.

SUNDAY SUN investigations have revealed that over the last two years the once vibrant reconditioned market has almost come to a screeching halt.

The reason is, according to the dealers, that they have been unable to continue importing used vehicles from Japan due to Government’s imposed environmental levy which was increased over the years from $1 200 to $2 000 and then to $4 000 last July.

This latest increase effectively placed an additional cost of $7 000 on the price of a used vehicle when added to the excise and Value Added Tax.

Dealers said business had become unprofitable and non-competitive since it was unrealistic to pass on these high costs to consumers. READ MORE…

Japanese models have taken the top three places at the Used Car of the Year 2008 awards.

The Toyota Avensis Verso has been names the UK’s best used car choice beating the Nissan X-Trail and Honda Jazz in the poll conducted by Warranty Direct.

Reliability proved one of the deciding factors in the voting, conducted by UK motoring journalists. Japanese and German manufacturers did no harm to their reputations for building reliable cars with strong showings in the final results. Honda did particularly well with the highest number of models voted for of all the manufacturers, while BMW and Audi were also well represented with several entries into top three shortlists. READ MORE…

Tokyo, Apr 9, 2008 (Jiji Press) - Toyota Motor Corp. <7203> on Wednesday notified the transport ministry that it is recalling over 630,000 minivans due to faulty fuel tanks and engines.

The recall affects the leading Japanese automaker’s Noah and Voxy minivans.

According to the company, fuel tanks were not installed properly for 628,239 units produced between November 2001 and May 2007. Cracks may appear and oil may leak as a result, Toyota said.

Toyota also said that the engines of 2,623 units manufactured between June and November last year may stall when being driven at high speeds due to a flaw in their computer programs.

By Jiji Press, © Jiji Press

Tokyo, Apr 10, 2008 (Jiji Press) - Mazda Motor Corp. <7261> began recalling the Demio and two other passenger cars on Thursday due to computer program defects in their engine control systems.

Subject to the recall are 170,300 units made between March 2005 and October 2007, according to a report filed with the transport ministry.

Due to the defects, braking distances may be longer than normal, the report said.

By Jiji Press, © Jiji Press

Tokyo, Apr 10, 2008 (Jiji Press) - Sales of used vehicles in Japan, excluding minivehicles, fell 8.3 pct from the previous year to 4,473,269 units in fiscal 2007, hitting the lowest level since fiscal 1986, industry data showed Thursday.

Used auto sales dropped for the second straight year, according to the data released by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association.

The poor performance came as the number of good-quality trade-in vehicles available on the used auto market decreased in line with sluggish sales of new vehicles, the industry group said.

Increased exports to Russia and other emerging markets were also behind the fall in domestic used auto sales, it said.

Of the total, used passenger car sales fell 7.4 pct to 3,838,336 units, slipping below the four-million mark for the first time in 19 years. Truck sales fell 13.5 pct to 507,479 units, the lowest level since the JADA started compiling the used auto sales data in 1978.

In March alone, overall used automobile sales fell 10.6 pct from a year earlier to 550,633 units, the association said.

By Jiji Press, © Jiji Press

For most North Americans, Japan symbolizes a nation of reliable automobiles and Hello Kitty merchandise at every turn. However, underlying a society of politeness and extreme social restraint is a sex industry that is inexplicably kinky.

According to economists, Japan’s appetite for kink is the second-largest industry, accounting for 2.37 trillion yen or US$20 billion annually in commercial sex services, second only to the automobile industry.

The world of fuzkou (the sex industry) delves into a wide array of kink which generally caters to men. Themed bars and clubs can provide a surreal experience of many varieties, including scenes such as a classroom with girls dressed as schoolgirls, or a replica of a train car that is packed with girls who can be groped. The girls wear short skirts, and the men can look up them.

Nyotaimori is another very popular trend. Also known as “body sushi,” Nyotaimori is the practice of eating sushi off a naked woman’s body that acts as the platter. All body hair is removed and the woman must train beforehand to be able to lie still for hours and be able to withstand cold food. Another variation of the practice includes bondage.

Probably one of the most popular fetishes in Japan is known as Burusera. “Buru” means bloomers and “sera” mean seller. Burusera is the practice of selling used panties. There are Burusera shops that sell the panties accompanied by pictures of the girls that wore them. The price ranges anywhere from 5000 to 10,000 yen, or US$49 to $90 for one pair. READ MORE…

Rising demand in the emerging markets of Europe and Asia, com-bined with fluctuations in the currency markets, is driving up the price of pre-owned vehicles in Japan and having a direct impact on the pocket of Jamaican consumers who are in the market for second-hand cars, dealers here say.

In recent months, the price of used cars are risen by as much as 20 per cent, they say.

“We have a lot of emerging markets and they have been taking the lion’s share (of the export of pre-owned cars from Japan) and are paying premium prices for the high-end vehicles,” says Kenneth Shaw, the president of the Used Car Dealers Association of Jamaica.

Markets such as Russia and Dubai, said Shaw, are particularly active.

“They go for the three- or four- year-old cars and are competing directly with us,” says Shaw. READ MORE…

Japanese cars swept the board in a survey of the most reliable used cars on Friday, taking nine out of the top 10 places.

The Toyota Corolla from 2000 to 2002, built in Derbyshire, topped the table compiled by What Car? magazine and insurer Warranty Direct.

Confirming the Japanese reputation for reliability, researchers found just three faults per 100 Corollas, compared to five per 100 for the second-placed Honda CR-V.

“The data proves that expensive doesn’t necessarily mean reliable,” said Warranty Direct’s Managing Director Duncan McClure Fisher.

In joint third place were the Honda HR-V (1999-2005) and the Toyota Celica (2000-2006), both with six faults per 100.

Honda’s sporty S2000 model ranked fifth, while the only non-Japanese car in the top 10 was the BMW 3 Series Compact (1994-2001) in joint sixth.

At the other end of the table, Alfa Romeo’s GTV (1996-2003) was named as the most unreliable car, with 97 faults per 100. READ MORE…

Govt. needs to stand up to used car importers on emissions

The call from the Independent Motor Vehicle Dealers’ Association for its members to fund a $300,000+ advertising and Public Relations campaign opposing the Government’s proposals to clean up exhaust emissions is blatant irresponsibility, according to the Motor Industry Association.

January 1 was to have marked the first step in a programme which would see imported used vehicles having to meet age-related exhaust emission standards applying in the Japanese market, but it’s understood that Ministers have buckled under pressure from the used importers and implementation of the draft plan’s original timetable has been compromised, with petrol cars to be given a twelve month stay of execution. “We just hope that Ministers will not now give in and continue to allow the import of dirty old diesel vehicles,” said MIA CEO Perry Kerr. READ MORE…

Sri Lanka’s motor trade is lobbying the government to discourage used car imports and change import duty to make brand new vehicles more affordable.

The Ceylon Motor Traders’ Association (CMTA) says the government has still not responded to repeated proposals to restructure vehicle tax regulations and introduce a method of obtaining motor traders’ opinion on taxes.

“We have given budget proposals to the treasury on conditional taxes and curbing reconditioned imports,” Tilak Gunasekera vice chairman CMTA told LBO.

“Unfortunately nothing seems to have been addressed so far.”

The association is still lobbying against importing used vehicles from Japan saying the vehicles are scrapped for a reason and they should not be imported to Sri Lanka.

This is in response to concern that Sri Lanka is becoming a dumping ground for used vehicles which cause pollution and can be unroadworthy. READ MORE…

Major advertising campaigns have begun in Hawke’s Bay and Christchurch as car dealers speak out about the Government’s proposed vehicle exhaust emissions rule.

The new legislation, which could be in place early next year, would restrict the importation of Japanese used vehicles to those built from 2000 and diesels would be restricted to those built from 2003.

An advert placed in Hawke’s Bay Today said the exhaust emission rule would ban up to 90 per cent of petrol imports and 96 per cent of diesel imports.

A similar ad had been placed in Christchurch papers recently. READ MORE…