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…

Mazda6 has overcome the challenge of 48 short-listed rivals to claim the What Car? ‘Used Car of the Year 2007’ crown in the popular monthly publication’s annual awards. For the What Car? December issue, an experienced panel of eight judges, who know the used car market inside out, scrutinised the merits of the 48 cars in eight different categories.

After much deliberation, the 2003 Mazda6 2-litre TS five-door hatchback emerged as a double-winner – overall winner of the 2007 used car title and first in the ‘Family Cars’ category.

Commenting on Mazda’s overall victory, What Car? Used Car Editor, Matt Sanger said, “The Mazda6 was the clear winner of our ‘Used Car of the Year’ title. There were more votes cast for the Mazda6 than for all the other category winners put together. Its overall package of value for money, reliability, desirability and fine handling, proved too much for the competition.” READ MORE…

The Yemeni Automotive market has witnessed several transformations during the last decade, mainly because of globalization. There has been several trends which the market has witnessed, first from the entry of large numbers of used cars from Europe and other parts of the world to be sold in Yemen as pre-certified cars, to the arrival of several brands of Chinese cars into the country, to the more recent popularity of importing one or two-year old cars from neighboring countries, to the extent that Saudi Arabia was the largest exporter of Cars to Yemen in 2006. Yemen Times surveyed the local market and spoken to several dealers, businessmen, and customers about their choices and the options in the local market.

Hussain Naser, a used car businessman, stated that there is only one brand which most buyers have confidence in, i.e. Toyota. He said that Toyota Vehicles have all the factors that people look for within a car, mainly quality, power, good resale value, availability of spare parts, and serviceable in most parts of the country. He said that in buying a Toyota one cannot go wrong. READ MORE…

Many more global auto majors are seeking space in India’s used car market, dominated by Maruti’s TrueValue programme. Japanese auto major Toyota is launching its used car programme called Toyota You Trust this week. Honda’s Auto Terrace, Hyundai’s Hyundai Advantage and Ford’s Ford Assured are also focusing on the used-car business.

Auto majors not only increase their market penetration but also sell the used cars at a profit, say sources. World’s largest auto manufacturer, Toyota, is now making its foray into the used-car business through Toyota You Trust. This venture is expected to be rolled out at leading dealerships across the country this week, sources said. The company has identified four to five dealers who will invest and set up operations for used cars.

According to dealer sources, this initiative is an attempt by the car maker to encourage exchange offers among customers. “Exchange offers are the primary reason why leading auto majors enter the used-car market,” said an auto analyst. Another Japanese auto major, Honda, has formed a new team to focus on its used-car programme called Auto Terrace. While the company’s used-car programme was started in a small way, we plan to increase focus, said Jnaneswar Sen, Sr general manager, marketing, Honda Siel India. READ MORE…

hough 25,000 state workers are eligible to buy duty-slashed vehicles, less than half of those entitled have so far applied for a car, officials said.

Long waiting lists at agents for popular brands as well as the high cost of new cars is said to be deterring public servants from cashing in on the bonanza.

Though applications for tax slashed vehicles were rushing in by the hundreds in the early days, officials say it has now reduced to a trickle, with only 12,000 having submitted papers so far.

Some officials have asked to buy re-conditioned (vehicles used abroad for less than three years and imported to Sri Lanka) Japanese cars instead of brand new ones, but the request had been turned down by authorities.

Meanwhile agents for popular Japanese brands like Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi are unable to bring down cars quickly enough, resulting in long waiting lists.

Ordinary Sri Lankan citizens outside the public service have to pay more than twice the price, paid by a state worker to acquire a car due to the high tax burden. READ MORE…

Used automobile sales in Japan in April-September fell 10 pct from the same period a year earlier to 2,158,605 units, the lowest level in 20 years, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Thursday.

The sales drop reflected sluggish new vehicle sales, JADA officials said, adding that cars have become less attractive particularly for young consumers.

In the first six months of fiscal 2008, passenger car sales dropped 8.7 pct to 1,837,154 units to mark a second consecutive fall. Truck sales showed a steeper decline of 16.7 pct to an all-time low of 256,931 units.

In September alone, used vehicle sales decreased 17.1 pct year on year to 324,223 units, falling below new auto sales, which totaled 330,103 units in the month, for the first time in 10 years.

Buying a car is a huge investment, whether you are buying a new or used car. By looking at used cars, you will see that this can save you a lot of money while you still get a great car. But before buying a used car, you should do a little bit of research to make sure that you are truly getting your money worth. Otherwise, you could just end up stuck with someone else problem.

Before you start doing any research, make sure that you know what you want out of your used car. This includes knowing how many miles you are willing to have on it, what type of vehicle you are looking to buy, and the features that you will want on your used car. After you have determined these factors, it is a good idea to look on used car websites. This can not only provide you with what a good price is for the car you are looking for but can also be a great place to purchase your car once you have decided on one you like. While you are looking online, beware of a price that seems too good to be true. It probably is and a low sales price could mean that the car is not in good condition and will end up costing you much more money later on. READ MORE…

Japanese automaker Toyota has been breaking records for a while now. It is set to become the largest automaker in the world by next year. On its way to being the largest company of its kind, Toyota has broken sales records and has celebrated milestone after milestone. Recently, the Japanese automaker celebrated yet another milestone as they have sold 2 million pre-owned Toyota vehicles in the United States since 1996.

The buyer of the 2 millionth Toyota Certified Used Vehicle is Mr. Brian Kabat of Bellevue, Washington. The two millionth Toyota Certified Used Vehicle sold to Mr. Kabat was a 2004 Toyota Sienna. Initially, Mr. Kabat was apprehensive about buying the vehicle because of the added cost of its luxury features. His grandchildren though made it easy for him to decide as they expressed their liking for the Sienna’s features.

Toyota celebrates the sale of the 2,000,000th used vehicle by reimbursing Mr. Kabat the $36,648 that he paid for the vehicle. Aside from that, Toyota will also be donating the same amount to Bellevue’s Youth Eastside Service (or YES) agency. The Japanese automaker has also earmarked $5,000 as donation to Bellevue’s Newport High School Band. All these will be handed out in a ceremony that will be held at the Bellevue dealership where the 2,000,000th used Toyota was sold earlier this year to Mr. Kabat. READ MORE…

The Philippines government has assured local car makers that the ban on the entry of used vehicles will stay when the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement takes effect.

Trade Undersecretary Elmer Hernandez told reporters he had discussed with the members of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. their concerns on JPEPA, especially a provision outlining the cooperation of the two countries in relation to exports.

“I have met with Campi, they want assurance from government that the prohibition [on used vehicles] would continue and that the provision is a safety net rather than an opening. It’s a protection, either way,” said Hernandez.

Japan is the biggest source of converted used vehicles that are brought into the country.

Hernandez said the Olongapo Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals had ruled against the constitutionality of Executive Order 156, which banned the entry of used vehicles into the country, at the time when government was negotiating with Tokyo on the auto sector provision under the JPEPA.

“Article 27 is the protection of the automotive industry. Our concern at that time, if we lost our case before the Supreme Court, what do we do about used vehicles? If we win, what do we do? So we put that article as protection,” said Hernandez. He said Article 27 served as a protection if the courts ruled against the constitutionality of EO 156.

The Supreme Court has since upheld the constitutionality of EO 156. The second motion for reconsideration filed by importers is pending before the high court. Hernandez also cited a provision in JPEPA respecting all domestic laws of both the Philippines and Japan. READ MORE…

Used car buying for first time buyers is all about reliability. Forget the looks; that sheen will soon go dull if your car refuses to start or plagues you with ongoing reliability problems.

The best source of information on reliability is the annual J.D. Power and Associates report, which originated in the US and is now available in the UK in association with What Car? Magazine. The reports from the J.D. Power surveys are widely regarded and reflect the true reliability features of the various makes and models of cars. The reports produce a Car Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) report and it’s worth paying attention to its contents, which are available in the Internet.

In the current report for 2007, the Toyota Prius ties with the Lexus IS for the top ranking among models included in the study. Following the Prius and Lexus IS, the top ten model rankings are dominated by Japanese models from Toyota, Honda and Lexus, although Skoda makes an excellent showing with the Octavia and Fabia ranking fifth and seventh overall. READ MORE…

Bandar Seri Begawan - Used car dealers are glad that the free-trade deal between Brunei Darussalam and Japan will lead to cheaper car imports, but at the same time they are apprehensive this may force them to lose their markup during the months when the pact takes effect.

The two trading partners on Monday signed a free-trade agreement which is aimed at cutting tariffs or import duties and ensuring a stable supply of natural gas to Japan.

Brunei will abolish its 20 per cent tariff imposed on automobiles and auto parts from Japan within three years of the implementation of the agreement. With most of the general public looking forward to seeing the tariff eliminated, there are some who remain uncertain, such as second hand car dealers.

“Currently we aren’t certain when the exact date the tariff will be eliminated and depending on how much cars are left in the stock yard or how much we purchase the cars for, in the end the price of our existing Japanese cars will have to be reduced,” a dealer said. “It’s bitter-sweet in a way that the next shipment after the announcement will also be cheaper. But right now it’s uncertain what will happen.” READ MORE…

The used-car market is expected to see the foray of three global players in the coming months. Japan’s largest dealer of used cars and vehicles Gulliver International, UK-based Manheim and a Dubai-based operator are expected to set up local operations.

All the three players are in advanced stages of talks to rope in a local partner, sources said. Manheim started operations in China last year and is known for its wholesale auto auctions. The unnamed Dubai-based player is based out of Bangalore and is expected to announce its soft launch by the end of this month.

Gulliver is visiting market to firm up its India plans. With south being the most organised used-car market, most of the global players are expected set up shops in this market first, sources added “The Dubai-based player plans to sell and refurbish used-cars along with warranty,” a source said. The global players are also planning to import used cars as they feel India has a huge market for such vehicles. According to the Society of Automobile Manufacturers in India (SIAM), the used car market stands at 1 million units. The auto industry expects this business to grow as fast as the passenger car segment. The market in India is unorganised, with the organised players accounting for just 20-25%. In developed markets like the US, organised players account for nearly 90% of the used-car market sales. READ MORE…

IMPORTERS of new cars say they are being discriminated against by the current registration system, giving second-hand dealers an unfair edge.

Late last year, the car tax regime was altered so costs are now calculated based on pollution emissions. For new cars, all information is provided by their manufacturers. However, for used cars coming from countries such as Japan, this information is not provided.

Importers of new cars must comply with a string of EU requirements to have their automobiles registered. However, they claim second-hand dealers are exempt from these standards.
For example, it is not obligatory for used cars to pass airbags checks or pollution emissions controls before they are registered.

Having these checks entails higher costs for importers, which in turn translates into higher prices in the consumer product.

Second-hand dealers, though, do not incur these additional costs, and thus can sell at lower prices, making them more competitive.

New car dealers complain of double standards.

For example, an M1 class car – a saloon with a capacity for eight persons – and new motorbikes must be accompanied by a certificate of compliance proving that the vehicle complies with all relevant EU directives. READ MORE…

PRICES of imported vehicles are likely to shoot up following a decision by the Government requiring importers to pay excise duty in foreign currency.

According to Statutory Instrument 80A of 2007 contained in last Thursday’s Extraordinary Government Gazette, the Minister of Finance announced that with effect from April 5 2007, importers of cars and other luxury goods will now pay duty and value added tax in foreign currency.

“Payment of customs duty and value added tax on the importation of any item of goods designated as luxury item shall be payable in United States dollars, euros, or any other currency denominated under the Exchange Control (General) Order, 1996 (Statutory Instrument 110 of 1996),” read the notice by the minister.

The general rate of duty for cars ranges between 60 and 80 percent depending on the type of vehicle.

In the past, importers paid for duty in local currency, making it considerably cheap to import.

Zimbabweans were spending an estimated US$400 000 importing an average of 80 used vehicles a day from Japan, Singapore, Dubai, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Business had become so brisk some foreign car dealers were advertising their latest brands of cars in the Zimbabwean Press. READ MORE…

Brussels is expected to initiate infringement procedures against Malta over its discriminatory registration tax on used cars, MaltaToday can reveal.

Malta’s higher registration tax on second-hand cars is currently being investigated by the European Commission’s directorate for taxation and customs, and is likely to culminate in the first stage of infringement procedures to be launched against Malta this month.
In response to a complaint from a Maltese citizen, an official from the Commission’s directorate said an infringement of EU law could arise if the tax on second-hand imports was higher than that imposed on new car imports.

Head of unit Micole Wiebke said an investigation is under way into the reduction of registration tax in order to comply with EU law, which prohibits member states from imposing any tax on EU products in excess of that imposed on similar domestic products, or so as to afford indirect protection to other products.

Malta’s tax regime on cars discriminates between new imports and used cars by setting a minimum tax charge for used cars. Both imports are subject to a tax of 50.5 to 75 per cent, according to engine capacity, but used imports have a minimum charge of Lm1,200, stepped up progressively according to engine capacity. While the tax on new cars is calculated on their cost, import and freight charges, the tax on used imports is assessed on a valuation by transport authority officials. READ MORE…

All Pakistan Motor Dealers Association (APMDA) Chairman H.M Shahzad speaks to Daily Times’ Senior Business Reporter Arshad Hussain on the government’s policy for the auto sector, foreign investment and Pakistan’s chances for exporting cars.

Daily Times: What changes in the government’s policy do you foresee in the auto sector in the forthcoming budget?

H M Shahzad: The government will have to give a clear-cut auto policy in the forthcoming budget in May 2007 to counter the rising demand of the passenger vehicles, as the local manufacturers and assemblers are not able to meet this demand.

The federal government has recently approved a five-year auto policy for the local assemblers and manufacturers, as well as the new foreign investors coming to Pakistan.

The government should also make some changes in the import policy for the dealers, as they are filling the demand and supply gap.

The main problems of the auto sector are demand and supply, black marketing - as every car is being sold on on-money – and 100 percent payment at the time of booking.

Because of the import allowed by the government in 2004, the local assemblers and manufacturers are facing a healthy competition and as a result of this competition, on-money and black-marketing of brand new cars have reduced in the last two years.

The on-money on most of the vehicles including Toyota and others has been suspended.

DT: Can the local manufactures meet the demand for cars and will the government ban imported cars?

HMS: The local assemblers and manufacturers are unable to meet the rising demand, which is moving up by 22 to 25 percent per year. The local auto companies cannot even fill the backlog of the previous years then how can they fill the rising 22-25 percent demand.

In my view, the imported cars would not be banned, as it is necessary for the government to import vehicles to fill the gap as in the case of sugar, cement and products in demand.

And if the government does ban imported vehicles, the same situation would be created as in 2003 and 2004, when customers were getting delivery of their cars after a year despite making full payment.

I am reading statements by the auto industry in different newspapers, in which they are offering delivery period of the cars in one and half month, but contrary to this, Suzuki is delivering cars in five to six months, while Honda City and Honda Civic is being delivered in a four to five-month period. READ MORE…

Following an upsurge in the number of people falling victim to unscrupulous used-car dealers, Zimbabwe’s Embassy in Japan has released a list of reputable Japanese used car dealers to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe.
This follows a flurry of complaints from more than 100 Zimbabweans to the Embassy in Tokyo after cars they had purchased were never delivered.

However, some Tokyo and Singapore used car dealers are reported to have also been conned by some bogus Zimbabwean importers who conduct business smoothly during the first few transactions, and then vanish after securing, but before paying for millions worth of used cars.

Some Japanese used car dealers are reported to have withdrawn from African markets after numerous incidents in which they were conned out of hundreds of vehicles.

People who need a new car but are trying not to spend too much money should check out the used-car market, as some high-quality used models can be found at relatively low prices.

It also can be more exhilarating to shop for a used car in good condition at a reasonable price than a new car.

However, it is relatively difficult to find good-quality used cars with low mileages because more and more people are keeping cars longer than before.

In light of this, an increasing number of companies are trying to meet customer demand by providing information on the quality of used cars and other forms of service.

Trust will always be a factor when shopping for a used car. A car dealer may say there is no problem with a car, such as having no scratches or history of repair. But are they telling the truth?

In an attempt to lay such fears at rest, a company started using the automobile inspection system–a system for evaluating car quality for dealers–for consumers in October.

Aucnet Inc., which manages dealer-only auctions for automobiles, inspects each of the cars it places on the block. A total of 324 points are checked. The company ranks each car it inspects on a grade of one to 10 and issues certificates.

Proto Corp., which publishes a magazine on used cars titled Goo, attaches certifications issued by a nonprofit organization to some of the cars covered in its Shizuoka edition. The NPO focuses on four points in evaluating cars: Whether the cars have scratches or dents; whether the interior is clean and stain-free; whether the engine and other parts are in good condition; and whether the cars have undergone major repairs. The company says it is considering expanding this evaluation system to its other editions. READ MORE…

New vehicle sales in 2006 came off the boil with a slight dip on 2005, but used car sales plunged 18.5 per cent.

A total of 99,986 new cars and commercial vehicles were sold last year, down 3.35 per cent from 103,448 the previous year.

New passenger car sales ended their five-year run of higher sales to end the year at 76,804, down 1021, but commercial vehicle sales were down 2441 to 23,182.

Motor Industry Association chief executive Perry Kerr said that after five years of solid sales growth “a levelling out was inevitable".

The year had held up better than expected. “The industry is in good heart and sales volumes have settled at a vastly healthier level than we experienced at the end of the nineties.”

Mr Kerr said sales this year were expected to be similar.

Prices for new cars were unlikely to be cut to stimulate demand.

The recent rise in the dollar had also taken some of the margin pressure off, he said. New car distributors typically took up to six months forward cover on the exchange rate to smooth fluctuations.

Last year, Toyota sold 19,200 new vehicles, taking its market share to 19.2 per cent from 18.2 per cent and beating Ford by 4700 vehicles.

The Holden Commodore retained a slim margin over the Toyota Corolla as the country’s most popular model. READ MORE…

The Zanzibar government has licensed two foreign preshipment firms to inspect and test used motor vehicles imported into the country.

Salmin Senga, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Communication and Transport, last week told The East African the move marks the beginning of the implementation of the code of conduct for inspection and testing of the roadworthiness of used motor vehicles.

The two firms are Sime Darby Motor Services Ltd of Hong Kong and Japan Auto Appraisal Institute.

Incidentally, these are the same companies contracted by the Tanzania mainland government for preshipment inspection of used motor vehicles.

Mr Senga said the implementation of the standards would ensure thorough inspection and testing of imported used motor vehicles destined for the Zanzibar market.

“The firms will be required to pay an annual certificate fee of $6,250 and an administrative fee of $20 per inspected vehicle,” he said.

The Tanzania mainland in June 2006 licensed Sime Darby to inspect used motor vehicles imported from China. READ MORE…

A DECISION to get all second hand cars checked by authorised agents before they are shipped to Fiji was welcomed by car dealers.

The Fiji Motor Traders Association has welcomed the Land Transport Authority’s decision that all second hand vehicles to be checked by authorised agencies before they are shipped to Fiji.

President Bob Niranjan said the association has been lobbying for this for a long time. He said used vehicles cause carnage on roads and many accidents are caused by used vehicles.

Mr Niranjan said used vehicle imports should be restricted to an age limit of five-years for cars and 10 years for large dump trucks.

He said the new range of engines from all manufacturers today were estimated to be 33 per cent more fuel efficient than cars from a decade ago.

Fiji imports around 5,000 second-hand vehicles yearly, of which 80 percent are sourced from Japan, just over 10 percent from Singapore while the rest are from other countries.

Land Transport Authority manager Standards and Compliance Naisa Tuinaceva said this was the first time LTA has embarked on such an initiative.

“It is the first time for Fiji and we are very grateful that Authorised Agencies in Japan and Singapore would do the first three phases of the check before the vehicles are shipped over.

“Even before they are being sent to Fiji, a copy of their inspection result would be given us.

“From the inspection report we would be able to give customers information they want on the vehicles,"Mr Tuinaceva said. READ MORE…

Japanese entrepreneurs are eying about US$550 million investment in car parts and car interior goods industry in Bangladesh, according to official sources.

The plan of installation of such a factory here by a Japanese leading car and engine parts company like Hitachi Car Engineering Co was laid bare last week at a meeting in Tokyo between the company’s Senior Engineer Masayuki Unezaki and Commercial Councillor at the Bangladesh Embassy Abul Mansur Md Faizullah.

This factory would cost US$300 million, the meeting sources said.

A group of executives of the company is learnt to have decided to visit Bangladesh by early February to place a formal proposal to the government for setting up a branch factory here.

During the meeting with the Bangladesh Embassy official, Masayuki Unezaki said being a large used car importing country, Bangladesh has a good potential for Japanese car parts manufacturing industry.

“Bangladeshi consumers need regular engine and parts backup for Japanese reconditioned cars, which is now fulfilled by costly imports from Japan. If the company can install its branch office at Bangladesh, the cost of such imports would be reduced by around 40 percent,” Masayuki added.

According to the sources, Bangladesh imports as many as 3,000 cars every year on an average, 80 percent of which are reconditioned ones.

In another development, the manufacturer of world famous Toyota brand car, Toyota Motor Corporation, now mulls setting up of a jute-based car interior textile industry in Bangladesh at a cost of $250 million.

The company has already conducted a study to assess the feasibility of the industry and found it suitable.

Senior Executive of the Toyota Motor Corporation Hajime Sakaquchi informed the commercial wing of the Bangladesh Embassy that they would conduct a further study before getting the project finalised. READ MORE…

The Government is considering introducing vehicle emission restrictions which could effectively put an age limit on imported used cars.

Associate Transport Minister Judith Tizard says draft rules will be put out for public consultation next year and might be ready for implementation in 2008.

The Government is considering using Japanese emission standards as about 95 per cent of imported used cars come from Japan.

Ms Tizard said yesterday there would be a set of steadily increasing standards, and cars would be tested at the border to make sure they met those standards.

No decisions have been made, but background documents issued with Ms Tizard’s statement said Japan’s 2000 emission standard could be introduced in New Zealand in 2008, and Japan’s 2005 standard in 2010.

That would mean that in 2008, cars older than eight years would be unlikely to meet the standard although that would depend on the make and model.

“Based on current trends, if introduced in 2008 the petrol vehicle standards would prevent around half the vehicles currently being imported from being allowed to enter the fleet,” the documents said. READ MORE…

With Christmas just around the corner used car dealers should be getting ready to gobble up a large portion of the season’s excessive cash flow, right?
Kenneth Shaw

Wrong, says Kenneth Shaw, president of the Jamaica Used Car Dealers Association and head of KACS auto Sales.
“Sales are not very high at Christmas, in fact I usually close down for two weeks during the season and send my staff on leave,” Shaw said.

“It is never a bumper season. People shop a lot, but they shop for consumer items. Then, around January-February when that is all over, they may want to purchase a car,” he explained.
But, this season the outlook in the used car industry looks dimmer than ever, with new regulations introduced by the Ministry of Finance and Planning that demand that the dealers start paying as much as an aggregate 180 per cent in government duties and taxes, upfront.

The Ministry imposed the new regime at the beginning of September, despite cries from the dealers that they needed time to negotiate financing and other arrangements to accomodate the new system.

“We tried to explain to them that (private) transportation is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity. We had several meetings to discuss the issue, but they wouldn’t budge.They insisted that they were creating a level playing field by putting all imports on par,” Shaw said.

Now he says that he is very concerned about the survival of most of the approximately 60 dealers, in the business, who fall under the umbrella of his organisation.

“They will have serious problems unless they have access to the additional funds to meet the upfront payments, or if they can get loans. Otherwise, they may have to diversify, like going into some other areas of the motor vehicle industry,” he went on.

He said that many dealers have been reducing business and cutting staff, and many more will have to follow suit during the new year, as they wilt under the weight of the new tax payment policy.
“With things as they are, I don’t see a very bright future ahead of us,” Shaw insisted.

He noted that even prior to the new system, the industry was already declining with importation of used vehicles, mainly from Japan, falling by some 30 per cent from approximately 22,000 in 2003, to just under 16,000 last year.

This was basically triggered by the government’s decision to limit the age of imported cars to three years. He said that since this year, there has been a further decline of about 25 per cent.
“The demand is still there, but when the new policy came in, imports dropped because costs soared and with the new measures it will get worse,” Shaw noted.

He admitted that the prohibitive cost of used vehicles was mainly due to the high level of taxation that they attract.
For example, he explained that a 2.2 litre Honda Accord or Toyota Camry attracts 40 per cent in common external tariff (CET) plus almost 52 per cent in GCT, creating compounded tax cost of 121 per cent. READ MORE…

AT first glance, the only thing Chilean about the sprawling duty-free car zone in Iquique, set between the Pacific Ocean and the Bolivian border, is that it is in Chile.

The thousands of used cars for sale are mostly from Japan, the dealers are mostly Pakistani, and the buyers kicking tyres are mostly from Bolivia, South America’s poorest country.

This duty-free zone in the far north of Chile is one of two set up during the 17-year rule of ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet to bring jobs and development to Chile’s furthest-flung cities. The other is in the extreme south.

These days, the booming car import industry testifies to the growing success of Chile’s bid to become the gateway to South America for Asia-Pacific countries. In the past decade alone, the number of used-car dealerships in the zone has jumped 40-fold. As many as 150,000 cars go through the port annually these days.

“We have shipments of cars coming in every day, and sometimes you have 40,000 cars in the lot at one time,'’ said Claudia Grimaldi Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the Iquique Duty Free Zone Car Association.

When the imports first began, some 40 or 50 cars came in per month, she said.

Iquique has taken on the aspect of an international trade hub, attracting job seekers and entrepreneurs from within Chile, from Peru and Bolivia and from as far away as Pakistan.

The area has even drawn the attention of US authorities who, according to a State Department report last year, have looked at the potential threat from extremist fundraising in the free trade zone.

Inside the lots, buyers from Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru and Brazil haggle to buy cars at a fraction of retail prices. Most of the cars are Japanese Nissans, Toyotas and Mitsubishis.

“Bolivians are the shrewdest negotiators,'’ said Amil Rajput, a Pakistani-American businessman who imports some 250 used cars a month from Japan, and who arrived in Iquique in 1997 to run the family business.

“When it comes time to pay, the women ask to use the restroom, where they take the money from underneath their skirts,'’ he said.

The buyers usually arrive on buses that come in three times a day from Bolivia. The brisk trade has even spawned a secondary industry of street vendors who sell the cassava dough and cheese snacks typical of eastern Bolivia.

On the Bolivian side of the border, the vehicles end up as taxis or minibuses, and as luxury four-wheel drives for Bolivia’s small middle class.

In Santa Cruz, 500 miles west of Iquique, dealers say the assortment of Japanese cars in warehouses on the border is so large they can cater to any customer’s needs. READ MORE..

An Iranian man arrested on suspicion of buying a stolen car allegedly exported stolen cars by passing them off as legally registered used vehicles using identification numbers from different cars, it was learned Tuesday.

Zoreband Beinam (phonetic spelling), 35, of Kohoku Ward, Yokohama, is believed to have exported more than 300 stolen vehicles in the year to July, gaining about 400 million yen illegally.

He exploited a loophole in the vehicle number identification system that was introduced in January. The Metropolitan Police Department is cracking down on the system as the method is becoming popular.

Beinam is being tried on suspicion of buying a stolen car from a theft ring that targeted SUVs in the Tokyo metropolitan area in December.

According to the police, Beinam is believed to have bought a Toyota SUV worth about 1.5 million yen for 200,000 yen from Satoshi Kogasaka, 28, the head of the theft ring. Kogasaka is now on trial for theft and other charges.

Beinam established a company in Yokohama two years ago that dealt with imported cars. The MPD found that the company exported used SUVs to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Vladivostok, Russia, for between 100,000 yen to 2 million yen.

The police found a large number of photos of stolen SUVs on the company computers. The photos had been e-mailed to recipients in Dubai and Vladivostok immediately after container ships loaded with the SUVs left port.

Sources close to the company said that at least 300 of the exported vehicles were part of the 800 vehicles stolen by Kogasaka’s gang near Tokyo.

To prevent the illegal export of stolen cars, the Road Trucking Vehicle Law, which was amended in January, requires owners to submit a certificate to customs issued by district transport bureaus that cancels the domestic registration once the car has been exported. READ MORE…/A>

By Nassos Stylianou

IT HAS BEEN two weeks since the introduction of the new law on car taxes and second hand car importers are still having huge problems getting their cars out of bonded storage. This frustrating situation has developed because of bad planning and mismanagement by the Ministry, according to a press release by the Motor Vehicles Importers Association.

The new law on car duties was implemented after receiving a resounding majority vote in a Parliament on November 2. According to the bill, there are now four taxation categories instead of the previous six.

The policy on used cars has also changed. Previously, cars over six years old were taxed at 25 per cent over the regular rate but under the new bill, used cars face tax rates which decrease with the passing of every year – which means up to an 85 per cent discount for a nine-year-old car. READ MORE…

When the importation of second hand cars from Japan began, not many people foresaw that these cars would one day dominate the motor industry in Botswana.

These cars were simply dismissed as difong-kong (fake), but now, about 10 years later, it is not just local car dealers who are feeling the pinch, the re-sale market for local second-hand cars has taken an even harder knock.

And now with imports coming from Singapore as well, sales of local cars in the dealerships have dropped as much as 40 percent.

Both local second hand car owners and dealers say selling their cars is now a nightmare and at best, most of them sell at way below the market value, otherwise they risk going for months without a buyer.

If the market was like before, Mota Moatshe who owns a Toyota Conquest 2002 model would sell his car but given the prevailing environment, he reckons, his best option is to keep it.

At least he can afford to keep it, but there are those who cannot afford that - and in many cases they need to sell fast.

Lesang Maswabi, graphics editor at Mmegi does not have the same luxury, he wants to sell because he has other projects that need his immediate attention, but his Jeep Wrangler has been in the classifieds section for months.

And it seems, owning a high value vehicle such as his, is actually his Achilles heel, after-all, he can only bring the price down to so much, as there is still an outstanding bank loan to clear for the car.

He says he has received many enquiries, which have been followed by dead silence, this is not notwithstanding the fact that he is selling it at P30,000 - less than its book value.

He is not alone and car dealers are also in the same pot, thanks to the second hand imports, which have brought down sales of local cars and their re-sale values.

Car dealers say selling a local second hand car for its value is near impossible. “The re-sale market is almost dead,” said Widzani Marobela, sales manager at Gaborone Autoworld, the former Gaborone Delta, Isuzu dealers.

Marobela says as dealers they now have to buy second hand cars from individuals at lower prices because for them to sell the same cars is just as difficult.

If they were to buy second hand cars at dealer prices, they themselves would not be able to sell them for more, she reasons. While she does not complain about the importation of the second hand cars, she says there should be a mechanism for determining the true age and mileage of these cars before they are brought and registered locally.

“It’s a catch 22 situation because it’s a free market economy, but the people who get burnt at the end of the day are the customers,” says Masego Gaborone, sales manager at Naledi Motors.

Gaborone points out that although they service second hand car imports, they cannot be held liable for faults in the cars as they do not have the history, of the cars. He says the demand for used cars has been affected by the availability of Japanese cars, which he says, “basically undercut prices.”

He says that people are now bargaining more when buying local second hand cars because they have the option of going for the imports. He adds that they now deal more with trade inns but they also bargain as much as possible, after-all, they too have to sell these cars and face the same difficulties. Read More…

Used vehicle imports should be restricted to an age limit of five years for cars and 10 years for large dump trucks, the Fiji Motor Traders Association president Bob Niranjan says.

In a statement, he said the new range of engines from all manufacturers today was known to be 33 per cent more fuel efficient than cars from a decade ago.

“FMTA has just completed its submission to government, explaining the benefits of reducing tax (27 per cent customs + 10 per cent excise + 12.5 per cent VAT) to Fiji in many ways than one. We are requesting a rate on new vehicles of 15 per cent and removal of the 10 per cent excise duty imposed for the first time last year (15 per cent + 0 + 12.5 per cent),” he said.

He said most certainly there would be massive savings for the Government alone if new vehicles population increased from its current 2200 units per annum to 3000 units

Mr Niranjan said the current import of 5000 units of used vehicles per annum was increasing the average age of vehicles on our roads rapidly and contributing to massive increase in fuel imports, due to older technology of 10 year old Japanese car engines with less fuel efficient engines.

“This increase in new vehicles can only be a possibility if new vehicle duty is reduced so that the average person can afford to buy one.

READ MORE…

WHEN vehicles are choking roads and expressways, it means the automotive sector and the economy are doing well. But when they choke up showrooms and stockyards, something is wrong.

Automotive market watchers estimate there are some 120,000 unsold new vehicles lying in showrooms and yards across the country. About half are of the Proton make.

Proton Edar Dealers’ Association (Peda) said Proton Holdings Bhd has 404 sales and service dealers who sold an average of 8,000 cars a month in the first six months of this year.

The 404 sales and service centres are owned by 198 Peda member companies, Proton Edar, Edaran Otomobil Nasional Bhd (EON) and EON dealers. They have each lost about RM20,000 a month in the January to June 2006 period.

Peda said that if the situation persists, about 30 per cent of its members will be out of business by the year-end.

Automotive plants in Malaysia rolled out 30,000 more units than the 248,407 they actually sold in the first half of 2006.

The surplus capacity has already led to a big cut in car prices. Car buyers welcome the situation, but manufacturers and dealers lament their lower profits.

READ MORE…

Everybody complains about high car prices - used and new - in South Africa. John Oxley has just returned from New Zealand where he discovered cars are cheap. Why can’t it be the same here?

Imagine an MGF sports car with just 35 000 km from new, for less than R80 000. Or a Daihatsu Feroza 4x4 with 50 000 km for less than R8 000. Both in excellent condition, and complete with a two-year warranty.

That’s the reality of buying a used car in New Zealand, where the flood gates have been opened for second hand vehicles from Japan, and almost everybody has a car which they own - or soon will.

It all comes about because the Japanese Government has a very strict car safety system which increases the cost of ownership over time.

Any car over five or six years old becomes very expensive to test and service so drivers prefer to buy new cars and put the old one up for auction.

And many of these cars end up in New Zealand, which now has a thriving used car market.

On top of this all cars in New Zealand older than six years must have a safety check every six months; cars younger than that once a year. So you can be fairly confident your purchase is fit to drive.

However, the downside of all this is that new car dealers are finding it harder and harder to move stock. Why buy a new car when for a lot less you can get an excellent used buy?

READ MORE…

Motorists should check that a car’s odometer matches the average mileage for a vehicle made that year if they are suspicious about tampering.

The Motor Trade Association (MTA) has warned that the process used by odometer checking company Automotive Inspection Services (AIS) was limited and it cautioned its members against buying cars inspected by the company.

AIS does not abide by a recently developed industry code of practice.

AIS told The Press it imported more than 20,000 cars a year.

Automobile Association technical advice manager Jack Biddle said motorists could calculate the average mileage of a car by multiplying 14,000km – the distance typically travelled in a year by New Zealand drivers – by the age of the vehicle.

If the odometer reading was significantly less, such as half the number of kilometres estimated, the prospective buyer would be wise to get an expert inspection of the car, he said.

Association spokesman Andy Cuming said motorists could protect themselves from buying a vehicle with a tampered odometer by dealing with established, branded car dealers who had a reputation for standing behind their vehicles.

The association wanted agreement within the industry on an appropriate process for certifying odometer recordings.

“This is essential in the interests of our MTA dealers, who buy and sell these products, and their customers, who must be able to rely implicitly on the accuracy of information relating to their purchase,” he said.

READ MORE…

The economy may be looking up, but Japan’s automobile sales remain stagnant. Sales figures for new automobiles excluding light vehicles in July show that year-on-year monthly sales have been in decline for 13 months straight.

The slump is the longest period of low sales since 1968 and goes against the perceived industry logic that if the economy improves, then so will car sales. So what is behind this trend?

At the start of August, a salesman at Tokyo Nissan Auto Sales Co.’s showroom in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo, was astonished to read the monthly data from company headquarters.

During the month of July, the summer bonus season in Japan, the number of people who visited one of the 46 Tokyo Nissan showrooms was 14,300, down 10 percent from the previous year. If methods of attracting customers, such as direct mailouts, are excluded, the number of people who visited a showroom was down 50 percent.

“Even if we call customers who previously changed their cars every three to five years to see if they are interested in making a new purchase, they turn us down, saying, ‘I’m happy to keep driving my present car for now,’” an Itabashi showroom salesman said.

Nationwide, the July sales of new automobiles (excluding light vehicles) showed a year-on-year decrease of 9.1 percent, at 317,928 vehicles. The decline has continued since July of last year.

READ
MORE…

Used car buyers are in the driving seat after a dramatic slump in the market.

There were more than 10,000 fewer used car sales last month than in May, creating a winter glut in an already depressed market awash with Japanese imports.

Although the car market is cyclical, the drop in sales is almost twice the size of the fall at the same time last year.

No official tracking is done of price changes in the used car market, but the Weekend Herald used a price analysis done by the Dog & Lemon Guide - a guide for car buyers - that showed recent sellers losing anywhere between half and 87 per cent of their car’s value.

In some cases, this cost sellers as much as $30,000 on cars less than five years old.

The analysis found depreciation rates consistently outstripping those on similar cars five years ago.

The depreciation rate for a new car such as a Ford Falcon has almost doubled in the past five years.

Industry members say the buyers’ market has been caused by a combination of over-supply (blamed mainly on Japanese imports) and a lack of demand because of the cost of petrol, the economic slowdown and bad winter weather.

David Vinsen, chief executive of the Independent Motor Vehicle Dealers Association, said the market had been “soft” for some time.

“Right now, all the planets are in alignment for the car buyer,” said Mr Vinsen, who represents used import dealers.

“It is all the wrong way around - you could probably export cars back to Japan and make a profit selling them there.”

READ MORE…

It remained unclear up to press time last night if local motorists will be affected by yesterday’s recall of 420,000 vehicles made in 2001 by Toyota Motor Corporation, the manufacturer of some of the most popular cars on Jamaica’s roads.

In its recall, reported by AFP wire service, Toyota disclosed that over 60 per cent of the affected vehicles -all manufactured in 2001 - were sold in Japan, while about 150,000 were sold internationally, mainly in the United States and Canada.

Yesterday, Toyota Corporation of Jamaica - the local dealer - said it was not aware of the recall, and that it would likely have been advised if the vehicles it sold were among those affected.
“If it was something that was applied to Jamaica, we would have been advised,” said John Allen, Toyota Jamaica sales manager. “We have not had any such communication at all. If we had a problem we would take the necessary procedures.”

Importantly however, most of the Toyota cars being driven in Jamaica are imported into the island directly from Japan by used car dealers. These are cars that are typically manufactured for the Japanese domestic market, and so could be among those affected by the recall.

The cars have a fault that makes the engine leak oil and so destroys it. The 12 specific types of Toyota that are affected include Corollas, the compact cars Vitz and Platz and the hybrid Prius.
Yesterday, Dwight Moore, CEO of WorldTron group of companies, a local car dealership that sells pre-owned Toyotas among other brands, told the Business Observer that it would not be completely surprising if some local cars were involved.

READ MORE…

Tanzania has licensed Sime Darby Motor Services Ltd of Hong Kong to inspect used motor vehicles imported from the island enclave.

A previous licence granted to Ms Hong Kong Vehicle Inspection Company was withdrawn a year ago for failure to meet the laid down procedures for used motor vehicle inspection.

The director of the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS), Daimon Mwakyembe, told The EastAfrican last week that Sime Darby has been granted a one-year renewable license to inspect all used motor vehicles imported from Hong Kong. (more…)

THE new 10% environmental levy on used cars more than 10 years, has affected sales by almost 70%, a top importer said last week, reports Caroline Arinaitwe.

Imran Yunus, the Yuasa Investment managing director, said in an interview that the effect was likely to push importers out of business or relocate elsewhere.

“Last financial year, used car importers contributed sh70b to the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) while the new car importers contributed only sh19b.

“This implies we have been contributing a lot to this country’s economic development. This is a shock to this new growing industry,” Imran said.

He said before the new tax, Yuasa Investment would submit to URA between sh40m and sh50m a week in import taxes.

“But now, we cannot even raise sh15m a week,” Imran said.
He said the implication is likely to lead them out of business and they think of investing somewhere else.

“Our vehicles imported from Japan have mechanisms called Electronic Fuel Injector (EFI) that does not produce fumes to pollute the environment. The used leaded fuel put in both used and new vehicles is the one that causes pollution. I think the government should try to stop the use of that fuel other than retarding the development of the economy,” he said.

Imran wondered why the government could impose on used cars yet even if you buy a new one after a time it will still be old.
“Our objective is to a vehicle a necessity so that every Ugandan can drive and I guess few people can afford to buy new cars here,” he said.

He requested the government to always contact the business stakeholders before they impose a tax because they can cause a negative impact on the economy, industry employment among others.

Source : http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/220/508703

Every city in Canada seems to have at least one street where drivers go to show off their automobiles – and the more exotic, the better.

Whether it’s Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal or any other major urban centre, there’s always a good car-spotting location – just as there is anywhere from Tokyo to Monte Carlo.

But do you necessarily need to have a bank account to shame a movie star to own an exotic automobile? Not really, if you look closely at certain makes and certain model years.

A walk round one or two “pre-owned” departments at auto dealerships and a good scan of newspaper classified pages and their related websites will reveal all kinds of bargains among older upscale automobiles that still have lots of life left in them – and plenty of prestige too. For this column, I’ll try to stick to a few of my favourites that cost under $25,000 – in some cases, they’ll be a great deal less.

For the price of a new mid-sized sedan, anyone prepared to risk the possibility (and in some cases, it’s only a possibility) of potentially costly repairs can get behind the wheel of a car that certainly wouldn’t look out of place in one of the country’s prime “cruising streets.”

How about, for example, a 1980s Porsche 928S, with no less than a potent V-8 engine under its hood? These can be picked up for amazingly low prices – well under $20,000 – and some of the examples I looked at recently were in excellent shape. Detail a 928 nicely and it would look just fine parked alongside all kinds of prestige automobiles.

Another used thoroughbred easily procured for under $20,000 is the sleek Jaguar XJS, which ceased production several years ago to make way for the last model XK. The XJS had a very long model run and got better as the years went by as far as reliability went. Many of these came with a wonderfully silky V-12 powerplant – something you can’t get in any Jaguar right now. You might not be a millionaire, but at the wheel of a leather-and wood trimmed XJS, you’d certainly feel like one – and the convertibles are especially desirable.

Many Jaguar models from the 1980s and early 1990s can be found for reasonable prices and still look very grand. A 1994 Sovereign sedan I spotted in one newspaper ad was priced at just $12,000 and had a modest 120,000-km on the clock.

Older BMWs are good buys and one of my favourites is the 325 series, which has come as a two-door, a four-door, a wagon and a convertible over the years. Examples in good condition can be found for for less than $10,000, and even models from the mid-1990s are very fairly priced. The quality of the cars – and the durability of their powertrains – is legendary.

One Japanese luxury car I remember from its introduction is the Lexus SC 400 and I was surprised to find one of these – a 1993 model – for a thrifty $13,900. I loved this car when I first tested it and very much admired its silky V-8 power, superb build quality and restrained good looks. An equivalent model today would cost almost $100,000 with tax.

READ MORE…

Everyone wants cheaper cars on the market. And the solution may be at hand for those who want lower registration tax, the main fiscal component responsible for pushing up car prices.

Brussels wants registration tax to be completely abolished by 2016, claiming car prices will fall by 10 to 25 per cent if registration tax is cut just by half across the EU.

Instead, it will replace the tax with a CO2-based system to penalise those who harm the environment more: the more carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas affecting climate change, a vehicle emits, the more its owner has to pay.

The European Commission wants to achieve its Kyoto Protocol deadlines by using the polluter-pays-principle to make it more expensive for heavy polluters to keep their cars on the road.
In reality, the registration tax system works on similar lines. The more powerful the engine, and the more fuel it consumes, and the greater the chunk of taxation levied on its value. In Malta, every brand new car imported from the EU is levied with a minimum tax equivalent to 50.5 per cent of its cost, insurance and freight value when it arrives on the island.

READ MORE…

Internet crooks are offering ‘no questions asked’ car clocking services - and it could cost you dear. Read on as we expose the scam.

Auto Express one, car clockers nil! We have scored a major victory in the ongoing battle against crooks who wind back the mileage of vehicles to rip off motorists. The move follows an undercover investigation into the way criminals are secretly using the popular www.ebay.co.uk auction website.

Sellers were offering to clock cars for £40 a time, allowing dodgy dealers to falsify a motor’s history and net thousands of pounds in profit. And we know this, because we’ve done it! Posing as someone interested in these so-called ‘mileage correction’ services, we actually got two cars clocked instantly, increasing their value by an incredible £3,000.

When we told eBay what we’d done - and, more importantly, how we’d done it - its spokesman thanked us for bringing the problem to his attention. After speaking to the site’s lawyers, he said: “We are revising our policies so that, in future, these listings will be taken down as soon as we are made aware of them.” The spokesman explained that eBay will soon be launching an “encouraging illegal activity” policy, which these clockers would infringe. “It means that if a sale is found to be doing that, it will be taken down from the site,” he added.

Clocking is estimated to cost UK motorists around £100million per year, and it’s as prevalent today as it ever was. What’s more, this latest scam isn’t only for old cars with analogue odometers. The digital ones can be altered just as easily - which is ironic, because they were introduced to try to cut down on the illegal practice!

So, how did we carry out our sting? We logged on to eBay to find someone willing to clock a car. It wasn’t hard - there were several firms to choose from - but we picked one which offered “mileage correction” for digital and analogue odometers on Japanese imports. A statement on the auction page read: “If your car has done 80,000km, we can reset it back to the correct UK mileage, 50,000 miles". Clearly, that’s the service provider’s justification for doing what he does, but as we could not lay our hands on a Far Eastern import, we thought we’d try our luck with some others.

As the website featured a phone number, we rang to ask if the firm did other cars, too. Not a problem, the man said - what did we have? We made up two models: a Saab 9000 with an analogue read-out and an Audi A4 with an electronic set-up. Amazingly, he claimed both were possible, and he’d even come to us with his kit. We joked that it sounded like he could clock any vehicle and, laughing, he said he virtually could! We made our excuses and put down the phone. It was time to go shopping

Read More…

TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co have each launched a novel type of dealership for preowned vehicles, to capitalize on the popularity of such cars, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.

Toyota has formed jointly with three sales companies a firm to purchase and sell preowned autos.

Toyota already has networks of used-car buyers and sellers, but Toyota U-Car Sales Create Co, located in Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, will combine both functions. Having opened its first location in Iruma, Saitama, the new entity’s second outlet is expected to be established by August in Sayama, the report said. (more…)

Lyttelton Port of Christchurch (LPC) has opened a dedicated vehicle processing terminal, with little let-up in South Island demand for cars despite high petrol prices. (more…)

Vehicle importers renewed their threat to go on strike on Friday to protest at a new requirement for clearing of Japanese cars.

The Association of Importers of Motor Vehicles (AIMV), the importers threatened to go on strike if Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) does not withdraw the rules. In the new requirement, they are expected to get clearance from the Japanese embassy before being issued with logbooks and vehicle number plates.

Peter Mambembe, AIMV national chairman, said the association, whose members deal in used motor vehicles, would stage a nationwide strike tomorrow if KRA insisted on the new rule. He said the rules were issued without consulting importers and the Japanese embassy, and had ruined vehicle importation.

He said over 15,000 imported vehicles had not been registered as a result of the new rules and could go to the road. Mambembe urged the Commissioner of Customs to withdraw the rules since the Japanese Automobile Association inspected vehicles before they are exported to Kenya.

South Africans cannot buy used imported cars, say the police, the South African Receiver of Revenue and the Department of Transport.

Why? According to Sars spokesperson Adrian Lackay, it is illegal because it threatens local economic activity, job creation and the government’s agreement with the motor industry.

“South Africa has investment from major car manufacturers to manufacture the cars here.

‘We don’t encourage South Africans to buy imported cars’
“If we allow second-hand imported cars to be sold locally and without our own COR, then we jeopardise our safety.”

He said that a vehicle could be imported from Japan if the owner, for example, lived in Mozambique, but the car could not be driven on South African roads. It would have to be transported. (more…)

I can’t recall why I felt so smug driving my $135 lemon yellow Ford Fiesta.

I suppose it stemmed from the notion that my German-engineered automobile cost less than most people paid for a nice dinner out.

My superiority complex only lasted a few months, though.

I remember driving downtown one night when I smelled something burning. Glancing down at the dash, I was blinded by a blue-white flash so brilliant it illuminated the bones in my forearm. (more…)

When shopping for a used car, it is important to select one that best fits your lifestyle. For example, if you live in an area that is prone to harsh winters with a lot of snow, a 4-wheel-drive will likely be a good choice. However, these automobiles use more gasoline than a compact car. So, if gasoline consumption is at the top of your list for concerns, a smaller automobile may be the best option.

When you purchase a used car, it’s also important to understand the varying cost of insurance. Automobile coverage for an SUV, for example, is more expensive than a smaller vehicle. The same is true of a sports car, which will likely garner an increased cost of insurance. (more…)

It is important that you inspect a used car before you actually purchase it. You see, when you do like a car because of the facts and information given while it was advertised may not be actually true. Some people who sell their vehicles would often create information about the vehicle even if they are not even actually found on the vehicle itself. So it important that you go through the vehicle and check it out first.

Look at the car�s exterior first. If you notice that the paint is still new, ask when the car was painted. You see, some people when they sell cars actually paint up their vehicles so as to cover up other details like rust beneath. It is also important that you check the bumpers and the wheel wells. When you do that, look for signs of rust, dents, or body fillers. Look for rest most especially the underside. If you see exterior rust, there may be more where you cannot see them. (more…)

I am having grave concerns about the motor vehicles being imported to Jamaica from Japan by our used car dealers. Many of these units are not for the Jamaican market. Currently, there are persons who have purchased cars that do not have ease of access to parts. Mechanical problems encountered with some of these vehicles cannot be rectified in Jamaica, as the required expertise is not available.

I would like to know who is monitoring these importations and what recourse if any can be had? Many of these motor vehicles only start developing complications after the three months warranty period has expired. It is frustrating for consumers to spend hard-earned cash on these vehicles, for us to park these vehicles only after six months.

Eighteen college students nationwide have been selected to research environmental issues in Washington, D.C. and South Africa through a new Environmental Leadership Program developed by Nissan North America and World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The program aims to empower young leaders on U.S. college campuses to become effective advocates for the environment.
Each selected student receives a Nissan-WWF Environmental Leadership Award, which includes a $5,000 cash award and an opportunity to participate in both a four-day environmental summit in Washington, D.C. and an all-expenses-paid research expedition to South Africa organized by Earthwatch Institute. The award winners represent a diverse range of backgrounds and academic achievements, from spearheading environmental protection and conservation activities on their campuses and in their communities, to developing new engineering technologies to purify polluted water.

During the environmental summit, June 24-28, students will gather in the nation’s capital to participate in a series of workshops, presentations and field visits, as well as leadership development and cross-cultural training activities to help prepare them for leadership roles in the global community. On an educational field trip to the Chesapeake Bay, the students will gain exposure to environmental challenges and ways of addressing them. On visits to Capitol Hill, the World Bank, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Environmental Protection Agency, participants will meet with officials to explore issues such as wildlife protection and environmental justice. (more…)

As part of its ongoing commitment to customer service, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., today announced it would construct a 40,000-square-meter superstore for both new and used cars in Musashi Murayama City. The complex, which is located on the site of Nissan’s old Murayama plant, will open to the public by the end of fiscal year 2006, which ends March 31, 2007, starting with the used-car section.
Automotive Superstore (more…)

DUBAI — A number of cars purchased from Al Aweer’s used car market in Dubai have been impounded in an East African country because of being listed as stolen cars by Interpol, it was learnt.

However, police sources here deny that stolen cars are re-exported from the emirate.

A Kenya-based resident who disclosed the fact, expressed concern regarding the brazen sale of such stolen cars in the Dubai market. How can the Dubai Government Issue export licences to such cars, he wondered. Brigadier Khamis Matter Al Mazina, Director of Criminal Investigation Department at Dubai Police, told Khaleej Times that the UAE is committed to international agreements including its Interpol membership. Dubai Police and the customs department have common security and check mechanism and linked through a computer to coordinate and check Interpol lists regarding stolen cars. (more…)

Japan reported that used vehicle sales slipped 5.2% to 407,117 units in April from the year before, marking the first drop in four months due apparently to a decrease in the number of attractive used cars traded in for new cars, an industry body said Monday.

An official at the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said, “The fall appears to have stemmed from the fall in the number of used cars put on the market as trade-ins for new automobiles amid a slowdown in new car sales.” By type of used cars sold in the reporting month, sales of passenger cars declined 6.1% to 341,860 units, the first fall in three months.

Tanzanian dealers and importers of brand new cars face closure of business as the effects of the East African Customs Union that was launched in January, begins to bite.

According to Juma Simkoko, chairman of the Tanzania Motor Traders Association, as many as 12 major car importing companies faced collapse due to unfair competition from importers of reconditioned cars from Dubai and Japan, who have flooded the market with cheap imports. He said the sector contributes about Tsh3 billion ($ 2.6 million) to government coffers annually and has a workforce of about 2,000 people. (more…)

Japan’s car owners probably will be required to pay between 7,000 and 18,000 yen ($65 to $165) to dispose of their vehicles when Japan’s new automobile recycling law takes effect in January.

Japan’s automakers are expected to announce their recycling fees later this month.

According to a report in the newspaper Yomuri Shimbun, the nation’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has met with automakers and drafted guidelines for recycling fees. The fees for light cars and small passenger cars equipped with air conditioners, passenger-side air bags and engines smaller than 2 liters would be between 7,000 and 16,000 yen ($65 to $150); for vehicles with engines that are 2 liters or larger, the fees would be between 10,000 and 18,000 yen ($90 to $165).

The recycling law also requires automakers to dispose of plastic from items such as air bags, fabric and chlorofluorocarbons from air conditioners.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3MKT/is_28-4_112/ai_n6111766

APAN’S leading carmakers are expanding their reach into the US. But even in the poorest corners of the planet the Japanese are gaining a large and loyal following, thanks to a brisk trade in secondhand cars.

ONCE UPON A TIME, about the only customers in Japan for used cars were scrap dealers. But in recent years huge, high-tech bazaars have emerged across Japan, efficiently dispatching Japan’s unwanted cars, trucks and buses to dealers who in turn channel the vehicles to everywhere from Barbados to Burma. (more…)

If you planed to buy an used car, it is important not only to find the car you like but you may also need to take some precautions like checking the car history, taking a test drive, knowing its book value or taking an extended warranty. (more…)

When shopping for used cars, it is important to understand the value for the automobile that you are considering purchasing. One way to determine an accurate value is through Kelly Blue Book (kbb.com) and their extensive pricing system. By entering select data about both new and used cars, consumers will receive instant value estimates. In order to get an accurate value, consumers must know the make and of the automobile, current mileage, additional features and overall condition.

Selecting from a lot of used cars can be an excellent way to own the automobile that you have always wanted, but could not afford a brand new . Understandably so, new cars are more expensive than used cars. But, that doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with purchasing used cars. No matter whether new or used, any automobile can develop a problem at any given time. That means that buying a new car does not automatically guarantee the new owner will have a smooth trouble-free ride. In addition, automobile insurance is often less expensive than those for new cars and this is another reason for the ongoing popularity of used cars. (more…)

“Sale” signs are hanging in the windows, but “SUV row” is a lonely place at the Tasca dealership in Cranston.

Car buyers are more interested in another sign: the fuel economy rating.

“I’m out here looking for something like a sedan, or, you know, something smaller. Or something that would be more fuel efficient because, you know, gas prices being as they are, I don’t want a giant car that’s going to cost $100 a week just to fill up,” said Matthew Camp, of Providence.

Car dealer Bob Tasca Jr. said large SUVs were selling this summer, thanks to the employee discount program that offered huge discounts. But that was before gasoline hit $3 a gallon. (more…)

queezed between growing and cheaper small cars and value-packed home grown big cars, it is easy to overlook the sophistication and style in a used example of today’s medium cars. Joe Kenwright takes a look at the revival sparked by the Mazda 6 and Honda Accord Euro

BACKGROUND
It was only 20 years ago that every local manufacturer had a strong contender in the medium car segment. At their peak, these 2.0-litre sedans, including the Holden Camira, Toyota Corona, Nissan Bluebird, Mitsubishi Sigma and Ford Telstar looked like taking over from the Australian large car as the most popular vehicle size.

Imports like the Mazda 626 and Honda Accord rode the wave as premium alternatives. It is the direct descendants of these two imports that have brought the focus back to a dying segment.

In reality, those early 2.0-litre models have taken over as today’s most popular vehicle size but not under those names. Today’s small cars have grown so much in size and power with their 1.8-2.0-litre engines, they are now bigger than their 1980s medium car stablemates. Australian buyers have been clever enough to ask why they would spend another $10,000 on a medium car that offers the same seating capacity and not enough extra performance to make a difference. The answer is driving a huge resurgence in small car sales when today’s small cars are no longer so small.

All used buyers still need to ask the same question. Why spend $30,000 or more on a near new medium car when the same money will buy you the very best new small car at top shelf level? It is a question that both Honda and Mazda had to answer in 2003 with their first all-new medium models in some years. What they came up changed the way Australians perceive medium cars. Both are front drive without an all wheel drive option in Australia.

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Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., announced today that it has begun operations at its newly constructed Nissan Advanced Crash Laboratory (NACL) located at the company’s Oppama Proving Ground in Yokosuka City, 50 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. The 40,000-square-meter, state-of-the-art laboratory will be used for testing safety performance in vehicle-to-vehicle crashes and occupant protection performance in rollover accidents.

“We are very excited to have opened our second crash test facility in Japan,” said Kimiyasu Nakamura, senior vice president at Nissan. “Nissan Advanced Crash Laboratory will go a long way to support the development of improved safety systems for Nissan’s vehicles under our Safety Shield approach.”

Safety Shield encompasses Nissan’s safety-related technologies that address both accident prevention and management. Under this approach, which was introduced in fiscal year 2004, Nissan believes that the driver is key to improved safety when it comes to helping to prevent an accident from occurring. Nissan’s focus is on how the company can best support the driver with technology that helps him or her avoid an accident or minimizes damage in case of a crash.

Nissan’s other crash test facility is located at the Nissan Technical Center in Atsugi, Kanagawa and is used for conducting vehicle tests using rigid or movable barriers.

At NACL, tests designed to reproduce vehicle-to-vehicle crashes can be conducted over a wide range of collision angles from 85 to 185 degrees in 5-degree increments, in addition to frontal collisions at 180 degrees and side collisions at 90 degrees.

Oblique-angle crashes between vehicles traveling in the same direction can also be reproduced at seven different collision angles of 5, 10, 15, 30, 45, 60 and 75 degrees.

At NACL, Nissan can also evaluate occupant protection performance in four types of rollover crash modes through a dolly rollover test*1, a trip-over test*2, a ditch rollover test*3 and a corkscrew test*4. The tests were developed by Nissan based on real-world accident analysis.

Long-term commitments to safety:
Nissan has previously adopted technologies to help achieve better compatibility*5 such as its unique high-strength Zone Body*6 construction. The latest version has been used on Nissan’s models since 2002 with the release of the present generation of the March compact car.

Nissan has set a goal of halving the number of traffic fatalities or serious injuries involving Nissan vehicles in Japan by 2015 compared with 1995. As of 2003, Nissan had reduced the number of fatal and serious injuries by 22% compared with 1995, indicating that steady progress is being made toward the attainment of its goal.

*1Dolly rollover test: Simulates a rollover curb impact crash with the vehicle in a fixed position on a dolly.
*2Trip-over test: This test simulates an accident where a vehicle spins and slips sideways until it comes in contact with a curb or some other formation that causes it to roll over.
*3Ditch rollover test: This test simulates an accident where a vehicle leaves the road, travels down a sloped embankment at an oblique angle and rolls over.
*4Corkscrew test: This test simulates an accident where the wheels on one side run up on the center divider or some other structure, causing the vehicle to tip and roll over.
*5Compatibility: This refers to helping to improve the protection of the vehicle’s occupant while reducing damage toward the occupants of the other vehicle.
*6Zone Body: The name of the high-strength body construction that Nissan has introduced since 1997. It combines a high-strength cabin (occupant zone) with impact-absorbing body structures (crushable zones) to help protect the vehicle’s occupants.

The 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX (ninth generation in case you were wondering) is set to go rallying later this week. While this news wouldnt be out of the ordinary, given the Lancers winning history in rally racing, this is no ordinary Evo, and the rally event isnt an FIA sanctioned WRC event. Instead of burning high-octane gasoline, this car runs on volts and amps. The vehicle in question is Mitsubishis Lancer Evo IX MIEV (Mitsubishi In-Wheel Electric Vehicle) prototype, and the rally is this years Shikoku Electric Vehicle Rally.

While electric cars have been around since the turn of the 20th century, Mitsubishis MIEV technology breaks the mould. As implied by its name, the motors are located inside the cars wheels, as opposed to inside the body or chassis of the car. This new type of electrical motor benefits the car by taking up less space, allowing more batteries to be used, improving range and performance. Like many other electric vehicles, power is provided by a lithium-ion battery pack located inside the car. The MIEV system made its world debut this past May on the Colt EV with in-wheel motors propelling its rear wheels.

In the four months since its initial release, MIEV technology has taken one major step forward. The first-gen MIEV motor, like many other electrical motors, applied a conventional layout with the rotor (turning part) located inside the stator (the power-generating component). With the Lancer MIEV its the other way around. The rotor surrounds the stator, making for an empty doughnut-like hole in the center. This new design has three major advantages over the first-gen motor: it is more compact and lighter, reducing unsprung weight and therefore energy loss; the hollow space in the center of the unit is able to house discs and calipers for braking; and the speed reducer has been removed from the motor completely.

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TRADE and Industry Secretary Juan Santos said Tuesday his department would stop government-run Bataan Technology Park Inc. from issuing guidelines that foreign business chambers had said “would legitimize the importation of used vehicles.”

Santos made the warning in response to reports that Bataan Technology Park was trying to attract locators to its area, which is adjacent to the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, including importers of used cars.

Santos told the Inquirer that the Department of Trade and Industry and the Board of Investments saw Bataan Technology Park’s plan as against national policy, considering that they have an incentives program for promoting the automotive sector.

He added that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had issued an executive order that “imposes an additional specific duty of P500,000 for used vehicles to discourage the importation of used vehicles.”

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China wants to become an auto exporting powerhouse, but even if overseas demand for Chinese-made cars soars, its ambitions could be constrained by a global shortage of car-carrying ships.

Known as roll-on, roll-off – or ‘’ro-ro'’ vessels – car carriers are in tight supply as auto manufacturing is increasingly globalised. New ships take years to build and shipyards are already struggling to meet a backlog of orders for container and bulk carriers.

‘’We would like to export more, if we can get freight space at a reasonable price,'’ said Lawrence Ang, executive director at China’s Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd., which hopes to double exports to 10,000 units this year after shipping 4,846 cars in 2004, mostly to Syria and Egypt.

Ang said the company could export as many as 20,000 cars this year – if it could find enough reasonably priced carrier space.

China is the world’s third largest car market, but so far it is a tiny exporter. Last year, Chinese companies shipped just 9,335 sedans, mainly to the Middle East and Africa.

Foreign makers didn’t export from China until late last year. But foreign firms will spend over $15 billion to triple output capacity by 2008 to 7 million cars, with most set for export.

The shipping bottle-neck adds greatly to costs. Geely, for example, makes some of the cheapest cars in China, priced at $4,000 to $10,000 each. But shipping firms charge up to $1,000 to carry a car from Shanghai to Africa. Ang says that’s too high.
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China wants to become an auto exporting powerhouse, but even if overseas demand for Chinese-made cars soars, its ambitions could be constrained by a global shortage of car-carrying ships.

Known as roll-on, roll-off – or ‘’ro-ro'’ vessels – car carriers are in tight supply as auto manufacturing is increasingly globalised. New ships take years to build and shipyards are already struggling to meet a backlog of orders for container and bulk carriers.

‘’We would like to export more, if we can get freight space at a reasonable price,'’ said Lawrence Ang, executive director at China’s Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd., which hopes to double exports to 10,000 units this year after shipping 4,846 cars in 2004, mostly to Syria and Egypt.

Ang said the company could export as many as 20,000 cars this year – if it could find enough reasonably priced carrier space.

China is the world’s third largest car market, but so far it is a tiny exporter. Last year, Chinese companies shipped just 9,335 sedans, mainly to the Middle East and Africa.

Foreign makers didn’t export from China until late last year. But foreign firms will spend over $15 billion to triple output capacity by 2008 to 7 million cars, with most set for export.

The shipping bottle-neck adds greatly to costs. Geely, for example, makes some of the cheapest cars in China, priced at $4,000 to $10,000 each. But shipping firms charge up to $1,000 to carry a car from Shanghai to Africa. Ang says that’s too high.
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Dear Claudienne:
In August 2004, I purchased a 2001 Mitsubishi Lancer (Cedia) from Jay’s Automotive Limited. The performance of this car so far is OK. However, I am at a stage where I need to inform myself about the dos and don’ts of this car.

I requested a manual from the manager since none was given to me at the time of purchase, but he seemed surprised and annoyed. He believes that the manual is not a big deal and despite my request I have not been provided with one.

This leaves me no choice but to purchase a manual which I should not have to do. Please see what you can do to help me to obtain a manual from the used car dealer.
Rodney

Dear Rodney:
The Bureau of Standards informed Tell Claudienne that you were entitled to a manual or a photocopy of the original, at the time you purchased the motor car.

For the company not to have provided you with one is a breach of the Standards Act. Under this Act, used car dealers must provide each purchaser of a vehicle with a manual written in English.

The Ministry of Commerce Science and Technology developed a motor vehicle import policy consultation with the Fair Trading Commission and the Motor Dealers Association.

This policy was tabled in Parliament as a ministry paper. Among the matters discussed in that policy document are the age of vehicles that are allowed to be imported into Jamaica, what warranty should be provided and a mandatory requirement for the provision of maintenance manuals in English. Such manuals must be available at the time of purchase and should be supplied at no additional cost to the purchaser.
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Once again, fuel economy has become a topic of conversation at car dealerships as gas prices soar, and the dealers have noticed a changing trend in how people buy new vehicles.

With prices for regular gas hovering in the $2.35 range in the Phoenix area on Tuesday, more car shoppers are looking for vehicles with better mileage and trading in gas guzzlers for new vehicles that are easier on the wallet.

“Everybody’s concerned about those gas prices,” said Tom Churosh, fleet manager at Bill Heard Chevrolet in Scottsdale. “Without a doubt, they’re looking hard at the fuel economy on the vehicles they’re thinking of buying.”
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Sport utility vehicles built in the United States have been especially hard hit by rising fuel prices, with sales falling nearly 20 percent this year compared with the first quarter of 2004, according to Edmunds.com, an automotive Web site. READ MORE…

ABU DHABI — The automobile market in the country is burgeoning with the current volume placed at around 1.36 million vehicles with nearly 30 per cent of the new cars in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

According to a publication of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, that quoted the latest report of the International Monetary Fund, automobile and spare parts exports to the UAE stood at Dh15 billion in 2002. This represents a stable growth of 9.2 per cent, the biggest growth rate among the six-member GCC states that recorded a growth of 6.4 per cent. This means that the automobile and spare parts market is projected to easily exceed Dh18 billion this year.

The re-export market is also witnessing a vibrant phase of business that is now estimated at Dh295 million, with Iran and Iraq being the major destinations. The upswing in re-exports has been attributed to a number of factors such as a vibrant domestic economy, rising population figures, liberal grant of car loan facilities and the increasing number of car renting companies to cater to the hospitality and tourism industry. Nearly 22 per cent of the imported cars find their way to markets in the Middle East, Africa and the CIS states.

The UAE is also the second biggest market for Japanese cars and takes the second spot again in respect of trade in Japanese used cars. The number of licenced cars in Abu Dhabi emirate was placed at 312,833 that is 42 per cent of the total registered cars in the country, according to the Interior Ministry statistics. The high living standards, increasing levels of income and fierce competition among finance companies in providing credit facilities for purchase of cars have all contributed to the growing sales graph, with about 1.4 million cars sold throughout the country in 2003.

The signing of a partnership agreement between the Abu Dhabi government and the German automobile giant Volkswagen will unfold a new horizon in the domestic car-manufacturing industry that will boost the car market and further activate the tempo of competition, industry sources pointed out.

Khaleej Times - 05/04/2005

Figures from JAMA, the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association for the first half of 2004 show a 7.1% increase in members’ EU component sourcing from the previous year.

Full year figures are not yet available, but Japanese manufacturers have purchased an increasing amount of EU automotive parts over the past nine years. Today, EU car parts manufacturers deliver more than 80% of the values of the parts used in the European production plants of Japanese automotive manufacturers.

Japanese manufacturers foresee EU investments in the region of € 2.6 billion between now and 2009, for R&D manufacturing and assembly in the EU25.

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A large number of counterfeit car parts have been seized and destroyed following a successful raid by Dubai Police and prosecution in the Dubai Courts. The case was begun by the four Japanese car manufacturers, Honda, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota.

Working on information provided by the manufacturers, Dubai Police initially seized two truck loads of counterfeit car parts. They then moved on to six warehouses used by the trader and seized an additional three truck loads of the counterfeit parts. These successful raids resulted in the removal from the market of approximately 45,000 counterfeit oil and fuel filters.

“This is a very good result both for the car manufacturers and the UAE. The quantities seized are indicative of the size of the problem that businesses and the UAE government are facing. Once again, this raid shows the commitment of the UAE authorities toward the protection of Intellectual Property Rights and that they are willing to bring the full force of the law against those who engage in this criminal activity,” said the four Japanese car manufacturers in a joint statement.

Those accused in the case were found guilty by the Dubai Court of possession of counterfeit commercial products for sale and sentenced to one month in jail. The Court also ordered that the goods be destroyed and that the defendants publish the judgment at their own expense in the Official Gazette.

Honda, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota, in their joint statement, thanked the UAE Police for their excellent work and confirmed that they will, together with the UAE authorities, continue to fight against those who deal in counterfeit goods. The manufacturers take the infringement of their intellectual property rights seriously and will use all available measures to have those responsible punished in accordance with the law.

Anyone who becomes aware of traders selling counterfeit goods can make a report to the manufacturers at www.nocounterfeitparts.com.

The pace of change in the everyday new car market makes it much harder for today’s luxury models to maintain a technology or styling edge beyond their second owners so prices tumble. Joe Kenwright looks at how much luxury and prestige just $30,000 can buy.

The scale of competition amongst Australian-built cars has never been so intense. It allows Australians to buy brand new cars for around $30,000 that boast technology and features that were the preserve of exclusive prestige cars as little as five years ago. Holden’s current Commodore offers GM’s latest prestige V6 engines shared with Cadillac and its optional V8 came from the Corvette sports car. Ford’s latest Falcon, even at base level, has a sophisticated rear suspension shared with some Jaguars and its six-cylinder engine shares the same advanced technology as most prestige models. The local Mitsubishi Magna is a variation of a premium export that sells against models up to twice its Australian price on global markets. The Toyota Camry has been steadily improved with Lexus technology so that its on road refinement is almost in the same class.

What does this mean? To compete against such formidable new competition, a used prestige or luxury model must have an X-factor to sustain buyer appeal for up to a decade after it has left the showroom. Or put another way, if a used luxury car doesn’t light your fires, why should you take the risk of buying it if the same money can buy a new car with the same capabilities?

At this point, logic takes a back seat. Any car that is five years old or more, is ready for the first round of replacement parts outside of warranty. To justify the extra maintenance costs of a prestige import, it needs to grab you in a way that no base model Holden, Ford, Mitsubishi or Toyota can. Most prestige imports also require premium unleaded fuel but this can be cost neutral when most offer extra efficiency. Joe Kenwright looks at a selection of used $30,000 luxury sedans that could ring your bell.
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MOTORING convictions throughout the UK could be unsafe after a speed gun was found to be inaccurate, a solicitor claimed yesterday.

The claims came after a driver accused of doing 132mph was cleared when it emerged his car could not be driven that fast.

John MacGregor, 34, of Inverness, had been clocked on the A9 by police carrying a ProLaser III gun, which is used extensively across the UK.

However, his car was a “grey import” from Japan and equipped with a speed limiter which meant it could not go above 112mph, rendering the gun’s reading unreliable.

Police last night said there was nothing to suggest that the equipment did not work and had no plans to withdraw the guns from use.

Mr MacGregor’s lawyer, David Hingston, said that, under Japanese law, the fastest speed any car can travel at is 112mph, while his client’s vehicle had a top speed of 107mph when tested on a rolling road.

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With styling that is dynamic and substantial, the Swift closely follows the look of the Suzuki Concept-S car first shown at the Paris Motor Show in 2002 and then the Concept-S2.

The S2 was unveiled at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show and, while it was an open-top sports car, it was dimensionally similar to the production Swift now unveiled in New Zealand.

Yet Swift is much more than a pretty face. It is a quantum leap in design, flair and interior quality, and a Japanese car developed in Europe for today’s world markets.

Code-named YN2, the 2005 Swift is already earning a reputation as a class-leading small car for its strong performance and endearing handling and trim road-holding.

With the widest overall wheel tracks in the class – 1,470mm at the front and 1,480mm rear – the Swift has a wide stance and a friendly character with distinctive looks that are all too rare today.

The wraparound glasshouse and black finish on the A- and B-pillars add to the integration of the body style, while body-colour, pullout door handles add a further touch of class. Vertically stacked headlamps incorporate twin indicator units and make a strong statement.

Wheel arches are boldly flared and the distinctive waistline rises to the rear where it is met by a superbly shaped tail, indicator and brake light clusters. The deep tailgate meets a large rear bumper that forms a solid visual base for the lower part of the body.

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The Government has busted a racket involving cars in transit to neighbouring countries but that are being illegally diverted into the local market.

In a crackdown launched last month, police and Customs officials impounded vehicles that should have left the country a long time ago after their temporary stay papers expired.

Besides the breach of procedure, those behind the scandal are also believed to be behind rampant carjacking of vehicles bearing foreign registration numbers.

During the operation, it emerged that some brokers who pretend to be transporting the vehicles to other countries dump them onto the country at throwaway prices and later scheme for them to be stolen.

At the port of Mombasa, the racketeers clear the vehicles and promptly obtain transit permits from the Kenya Revenue Authority. The papers are only valid for seven days, but most of the cars do not leave the country on the expiry of the period.

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TOKYO: Nissan Motor Co. said Friday it will enter the Pakistani market in late February with the release of four models, Kyodo News reported.

“We are very excited to be part of the rapidly growing automobile market in Pakistan,” said Yasuaki Hashimoto, vice president of marketing and sales for Nissan’s general overseas markets.

The models to be offered are the Sunny subcompact sedan, the Cefiro luxury sedan, which is called the Teana in Japan, the Patrol off-roader vehicle, known as the Safari in Japan, and the X-Trail sport-utility vehicle. They are to be imported from Japan and distributed by Ghandhara Nissan Ltd., Nissan’s sales firm in Pakistan.

Nissan aims to sell a total of about 100 units of the models a month. In 2004, total vehicle sales in Pakistan amounted to 114,843 units, up 51 percent from the previous year and more than triple the figure in 2000, according to the automaker.

“We see great potential for the Nissan brand in Pakistan and expect the market to be an important contributor to Nissan’s profitable growth momentum” under the company’s new three-year business plan, Hashimoto said.

Under the plan, which will take effect starting in April, Nissan aims to rack up annual global sales of 4.2 million units by the end of the plan, up from a little more than 3 million units in fiscal 2003, the report said. —Dow Jones Newswires

New Zealand needed to follow European countries and Japan in placing a … “When a car reaches the … encourage the recovery of materials that can be re-used and the …
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South Africa has become the dumping ground for thousands of grey imported vehicles that leave Japan as “scrap” destined for Southern African Development Community countries. Some of them have been known to cause major accidents.

In 2004 alone, police recorded that 80 000 vehicles were imported via Durban harbour destined for Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique. Department of Transport Motor Services Manager Sue Grobbelaar said: “Of these, 7 000 were listed as ’suspect’ with Interpol (as stolen vehicles).”

Grobbelaar said there was no record to prove that most of these vehicles had ever crossed our borders to reach their final destination in neighbouring countries, where it is mostly legal to own second-hand imports.

This emerged yesterday after Namibia partially banned the import of Japanese used cars older than five years - an act that has left hundreds of cars ordered by Namibians stranded in Durban.

Referring to the situation on local roads, KZN Road Traffic Inspectorate head John Schnell said that South Africa had become a “dumping ground” for vehicles that could not pass roadworthy tests overseas.

“A lot of these dodgy vehicles end up on our roads and are involved in accidents. Some have been imported trucks from America,” Schnell said.

Grobbelaar said drivers of the grey imports involved in accidents often disappeared from the scene of and could not be traced. At least one South African had been left in a wheelchair after an accident involving such a vehicle at Mooi River.

Grobbelaar said it was illegal for South Africans to possess second-hand imported vehicles.

Provincial Department of Transport Minister Bheki Cele was not available for comment. However, Grobbelaar confirmed his department was taking “drastic action” over the grey imports.

“We are going to clamp down on these imports that are illegally travelling on our roads (having been) resold to our public. (Buyers) can have them taken away because the relevant customs and duties have not been paid,” Grobbelaar said.

Negotiations had been under way for some time with the Department of Trade and Industry, SARS, Customs and Excise and Business Against Crime to establish a vehicle testing station at Durban Harbour where vehicles could be checked with Interpol and for “street-legalness". She said the vehicles could not be certified as roadworthy as they had not been built to SA standards.

Commissioned by the Department of Transport, Business Against Crime has been investigating the illegal imports for the three years.

Business Against Crime expert Lee Dutton told The Mercury from Namibia - where he had addressed officials on matters related to the clampdown - that a few hundred vehicles had been left stranded in Durban following the partial ban. It became effective from January 1.

He said a further 900 in-transit vehicles were stranded in Namibia following a similar ban in Angola.

Apart from South Africa, which had been clamping down on imports, the vehicles were killing the second-hand market in the entire SADC region by undermining resale values, he said.

Dutton said many second-hand luxury imported vehicles like 4x4s were stolen in the United Kingdom, Singapore and Hong Kong.

The Namibian Trade and Industry Ministry said it was banning vehicles older than five years from outside the Southern African Customs Union to stamp out tax evasion, ensure after-sales service, protect the environment and promote road safety.

Established car dealers with South African links, who had seen a slump in business due to the import of the Japanese “greys", had lobbied the government to put a stop to these imports. Importers had pleaded with the government to give them more time to land the cars which had been ordered.

What to look out for

Business Against Crime advised consumers yesterday that they particularly needed to check the legality of the following imported second-hand models sold on the local market. These are among the most popular vehicles imported for export to SADC countries but illegally sold in South Africa:

1500 Corolla, Hilux Surf, Lexus Signus (Landcruiser), Toyota Corsa, Toyota Carina, Nissan ZX, Corolla Limited Edition, Landcruiser VX Limited 100 Series, Honda Accord, Hiace Townace, Hiace 4x4, Pajero Shogun, Rav 4, Toyota Camry (specifically not the shapes offered in South Africa), Suzuki Acude, Toyota Prado Grande, Toyota Crown, Honda Civic, Isuzu Rodeo, Suzuki Samurai, Mitsubishi GTO, Ford Transit van, Nissan Starlit, Coaster Bus, Ascudo, Nissan Vanette, Toyota Vista, Toyota Ceres, Toyota Selica, Toyota Ferio, Soarer, Marino, Isuzu Big Horn, Hiace Super Custom, Mirage.

The following finishes help in the identification of certain imported models: Unusual mirrors - front right hand and rear overhang mirrors; Japanese tyre pressure and other sticker warnings; dealership stickers and radiator trims.

Ask for a written guarantee that the vehicle has been legally imported.

Published on the web by Mercury on January 28, 2005.
© Mercury 2005. All rights reserved.

ABU DHABI — A proposal to set up a duty-free zone for used cars in Abu Dhabi has been made by the authorities in view of the rapid growth of this sector.

According to official statistics, the UAE is the second largest market for secondhand cars in the world.

With a population of 4.04 million, the car population in the country now crossed 1.3 million in 2003, including over 1.24 million used cars, as per 2003 statistics of the Interior Ministry. Abu Dhabi alone imported 5,000 used cars last year.

The share of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in new cars is 29 per cent. Japanese cars enjoy the biggest stake in the automobile market in the country, recording 66 per cent.

An official report of Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI) on automobile market in 2004 made available to Khaleej Times showed that the UAE is the world’s second largest market for used Japanese cars.

The report said bilateral trade between UAE and Japan recorded $17.89 billion in 2003. This figure was expected to increase by 23 per cent in the following year.

Quoting the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the ADCCI report said car and spare parts exports to UAE recorded Dh15 billion in 2002, with a steady growth of 9.2 which is the highest growth rate among the AGCC countries.

“This means that the automobile and spare parts market will easily cross Dh18 billion in 2005. The re-export market is also growing very rapidly with an estimate of Dh295 million, especially to Iran and Iraq,” the report said.

It said the growth in automobile market is primarily attributed to the economic growth and increase in development projects in the country, soft car bank loans, population growth, international specifications and latest models offered regularly by automobile companies, increase of rent-a-car companies as a result of the growth in tourism sector, shopping festivals, and socio-economic stability.

The booming of re-export sector is also among other reasons, as statistics show that 22 per cent of the exported cars are re-exported to other Middle East, African and Commonwealth countries, mainly Iraq.

“The availability of cash and tendency of nationals to buy new cars is also one of the main reasons,” the study said.

Iraq: No. 1 market

The UAE is one of the key beneficiaries of the booming secondhand car market in Iraq. This automotive sector here has benefited a lot since the US-led invasion.

Iraqi expats returning home after the overthrow of Saddam Hussain’s regime with hopes that the country will, in time, witness an economic boom are preparing themselves to adapt with the fait accompli by buying American products such as used cars.

Market sources say that the gut feeling is that the Americans are not planning to leave soon.

Over the past few months, demand for used American cars has risen remarkably, leading to a hike in prices and the emergence of a new bargaining style.

A owner of a used car showroom in Abu Dhabi, when contacted, said used American cars were selling very fast and most of the buyers were returning Iraqis. However, the temporary closure of Iraqi borders for elections as announced by the Interim government will consequently affect the market.

According to unofficial statistics, vehicles worth Dh600 million had been exported to Iraq from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah within the first three months after the war ended. Most cars were taken to Iraq by road through the UAE-Saudi Arabia-Jordan route.

The speculations about the nature and volume of cars that the Iraq market will absorb depends on the rapid changes now taking place in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq.

It is too early to predict how the market will look like in the coming days, market sources say.

According to a study by Global Insight, a private company formed to bring together the two most respected economic and financial information companies in the world, DRI and WEFA, the used car exports to Iraq have risen very sharply since the end of the Iraqi war, trending towards the lowest priced cars available from the neighbouring regions of the UAE, Kuwait and Jordan.

This rise in demand has tightened the used car markets substantially in the Middle East region, with dealers in the UAE reporting a 20 per cent rise in prices. Between May and September last year, it is estimated that 100,000 used cars have been shipped to Iraq, the study said.

In order to streamline the automobile market in the country, particularly in Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Chamber report suggested that a panel or a group comprising automobile dealers should be formed to chalk out mechanisms for cooperation with automobile companies, chambers of commerce and economic departments to provide them with periodical data on the volume of sales.

The report also proposed that a new market for brand new and used cars should be established. The taxi sector should be modernised to cope with the growing tourist sector in the Emirate. This can be done through setting up companies to run taxis.

To streamline selling of cars, an auction zone should be set up.

The report also urged the authorities to reconsider the cars licencing procedures to allow motorists to won more than one car.

TOKYO — For automakers worried about the worldwide glut of cars, there’s some bad news: Some of Japan’s biggest companies are preparing a lifeline of at least $3 billion for unprofitable Mitsubishi Motors Corp.

The big bailout from its corporate cousins, Mitsubishi’s second in seven months, will allow it to keep competing in the United States, where Detroit’s carmakers face a growing onslaught from Japanese and Korean rivals and consumer demand is showing signs of slowing. Mitsubishi produces roughly 1.4 million cars annually. The global car industry already has annual excess production capacity of roughly 24 million vehicles, according to CSM Worldwide, a Farmington Hills, Mich., research firm.

Mitsubishi Motors declined to comment on the proposed deal, but people familiar with the matter said talks are in the final stage.

The planned rescue illustrates why the overpopulated car industry has trouble consolidating and reducing capacity. Japan and other nations see their carmakers as national champions. Letting them fail is particularly difficult since so many jobs would be lost at once. Mitsubishi employed 43,801 people as March 31, with many thousands more working at suppliers.

Japan has moved in recent years to let weak companies fail so that there’s more opportunity for new or healthier companies. Still, many executives and politicians adhere to the notion that employment and tradition should play a role in deciding which companies live. “The automobile sector is so broad-based,” said Yoichiro Okazaki, Mitsubishi Motors’ chairman, in an interview last year. He asked rhetorically what other manufactured product spreads around benefits to so many companies. “Tractors? No. It is only cars that can benefit so many. Ultimately, that’s the thinking of the Mitsubishi group,” Okazaki said.

Mitsubishi’s recent history gives little hint that a cash infusion will do much good. DaimlerChrysler AG paid $1.9 billion in 2000 for a 37 percent stake in Mitsubishi and sent German executives to try to help the company. Last year, Daimler gave up and refused to put in more money. Other Mitsubishi-group companies then injected $5 billion into Mitsubishi Motors, reducing Daimler’s stake to 22 percent. Most of that money is gone, having been spent paying down debt and covering operating losses, according to people familiar with the company’s finances.

Mitsubishi Motors had a loss of about $2.1 billion for the year ending March 31, 2004, and is on pace to lose as much as $2.4 billion in the current fiscal year.

The only thing standing between the carmaker and bankruptcy court is the Mitsubishi group. The group’s companies are linked by cross-shareholding and historical ties dating to prewar Japan, when they were part of a giant conglomerate. Today the chief group members include Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc., Japan’s healthiest banking group; trading company Mitsubishi Corp.; and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., a ship and machinery builder and onetime parent of Mitsubishi Motors. In World War II, Mitsubishi Heavy built Japan’s Zero fighter planes.

People familiar with the group companies’ plans say they are prepared to continue pouring money into Mitsubishi Motors until it recovers, although at best that is likely to take at least several years. The roughly $3 billion capital infusion for Mitsubishi Motors will be announced later this month when the company discloses its latest restructuring plan, said sources familiar with the plans.

After the Mitsubishi group carried out its first bailout of the carmaker last year, President Nobuo Kuroyanagi of the Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group’s core bank explained in an interview: “We have to help because we have a responsibility to society.” He added: “This is different from how things are done in the U.S.”

Mitsubishi Tokyo and other group companies declined to comment on the new capital infusion, referring all queries to Mitsubishi Motors. A spokesman for the carmaker said nothing has been decided. Though the government hasn’t taken a leading role in the talks, people familiar with the matter say the governmentrun Development Bank of Japan might participate in a new bailout of Mitsubishi Motors, which has said in public filings it is eligible for help from the bank.

Rescuing the carmaker will be an uphill struggle. Sales have been crippled in its home market of Japan, falling around 30 percent in 2004 after a scandal involving a cover-up of vehicle defects. In one instance a pedestrian was killed when a tire flew off a Mitsubishi-brand truck. The company blamed poor maintenance by the truck’s owner although it reportedly knew of other similar incidents.

U.S. sales, meanwhile, fell by 37 percent in 2004. That partly reflected a decision to cut sales to rental operators sharply as a way of propping up the resale value of Mitsubishi cars and making them more attractive to regular consumers. The U.S. operations also are struggling to recover from piles of bad consumer loans caused by a “zero-zero-zero” financing offer that gave young people with spotty credit records the chance to buy a car with no money down and no payments for a year.

Mitsubishi Motors was spun off from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 1970. The carmaker’s initial success meant business for other Mitsubishi group members, who supplied steel, rubber, glass and electronic parts. But Mitsubishi Motors never squeezed its suppliers for cost savings in the manner of Toyota Motor Corp., whose ruthless efficiency and reputation for quality have made it the world’s most profitable automaker. Toyota posted net income of more than $11 billion in the year ended March 31, 2004.

One success story that lends a glimmer of hope to Mitsubishi Motors is Nissan Motor Co., which was itself on the verge of bankruptcy in 1999 before it received a capital infusion from Renault SA of France. Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn has returned Nissan to profitability with a combination of cost-cutting and more attractive new models.

Mitsubishi Motors has sold its headquarters building in Tokyo to raise cash — a step also adopted by Nissan during its crisis — and has plans to reduce staff by 30 percent, largely through attrition. To boost sales, it recently agreed to boost the number of minivehicles it produces for sale under Nissan’s brand to 59,000 from 20,000. It is also negotiating with SGA Peugeot Citroen about a similar arrangement.

Analysts are unimpressed. “Until they take more drastic action to lower fixed costs, it won’t recover,” says Noriyuki Matsushima, an auto industry analyst with Nikko Citigroup.

DaimlerChrysler still has a considerable stake in Mitsubishi Motors’ recovery even though it owns less of the company now. Chrysler engineers, among other joint projects, have collaborated with Mitsubishi Motors to develop a small car “architecture” for the next generation of Chrysler small cars, including the Neon and PT Cruiser and a Jeep crossover. Chrysler may now have to finish developing the cars on its own. However, Michael Aberlich, a Chrysler spokesman, says both companies have started working on their individual models based on the architecture.

Mitsubishi Motors declined to comment on the status of the collaboration. But President Hideyasu Tagaya, in an interview last fall, said all projects with DaimlerChrysler are under review and Daimler no longer has the power to decide what Mitsubishi Motors does.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is drawing up a restructuring plan that will involve a fresh cash injection and alliances with other automakers, according to the Associated Press.

Western European passenger car sales rose 1.64% in 2004 to 14,775,541 units, according to independent analyst JATO Dynamics.

Delphi Corp. has posted a $US102 million fourth-quarter net loss because of North American vehicle production cuts and rising costs for raw materials.

Hyundai Motor plans to challenge Toyota�s premium Lexus brand in the United States with the redesigned Grandeur (XG) sedan which makes its world debut at the Geneva motor show in March.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Poland on Friday started production of a new one-litre petrol engine and manual transmission � to be used in the three new small passenger cars made jointly by Toyota and PSA Peugeot Citro�n at their brand-new car assembly plant in the Czech Republic.

Ford Motor Company will pay profit sharing to its hourly employees in the United States on March 9. The average amount is $US600.

Automotive retail group Asbury Automotive expects earnings for the fourth quarter of 2004 to be about $0.42 per share, above analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.33, and $1.61 per share for the full year.

Mitsubishi Motors (MMC) is in talks with DaimlerChrysler AG to try to settle compensation for the German automaker for damages related to recall scandals at the Japanese automaker’s truck unit, the company said Friday, according to news agency AP.

A new ten-year business alliance has been announced between American Honda Motor Co., Inc. and the Disneyland Resort (in California). The deal provides sponsorship of the theme park’s new 50th Anniversary fireworks show and its annual Grad Nite celebrations.

When the slide show stopped running at the Ford 2004 financial results conference in Dearborn yesterday, and the questions from analysts and media began, you really could have thought that you had stumbled into either a Jaguar presentation or a Visteon creditors meeting, writes Rob Golding.