Cars

Suzuki now third in Japanese Car Market 

 For the first time ever, Suzuki is in third place in the Japanese domestic automotive market trailing behind Toyota and Nissan, overtaking Honda for combined sales of light commercial vehicles and passenger cars. As per the financial daily Nikkei Shimbun, Suzuki sold 587,874 passenger cars and commercial vehicles, behind Toyota (1,417,984) and Nissan (670,096) and ahead of Honda (581,249) and Daihatsu (524,381) between January and October 2006.

So what made this possible? Despite the Japanese econominc recovery, regular car sales are going down. However it is interesting to note that there is a boom of mini car or kei car in Japan now. These are low cost tiny cars limited to 660 cc engines. Suzuki, Daihatsu and Mitsubishi are the only three companies producing KIA cars at the present. KIA cars now account for 35% of unit sales in Japan? 6 million a year car market. A new KIA car costs around one million yen ($9000). These mini cars are cheaper to produce and also receive tax benefits from the government. Japanese people do not want to pay more for luxurious cars nowadays as they look at cars as a normal commodity. As Suzuki is the leader in Kei cars, its domestic sales overtook Honda making it the third best automaker in Japanese domestic market now. Suzuki? success in other countries such as India, Pakistan and Hungary is also due to the low cost mini cars it produces there. Next year Suzuki will launch a compact MPV (minivan) based on the Splash concept shown at the recent Paris motor show.


2013 Toyota Land Cruiser Gets a Refresh 



Toyota has released photos of the European spec model, but it's likely that the U.S.-spec model will look the same when it arrives here later this year. For 2013 the Land Cruiser gets an refreshed exterior with an updated front grille and headlights, LED Daytime Running Lights, new chrome side molding, redesigned outer side mirrors and taillights. The front and rear fenders have also been enlarged to convey an "Advanced and Rugged" theme. The interior of the 2013 Land Cruiser also gets some updates like: perforated leather trim with ventilated front seats, a higher gloss wood grain finish, brighter silver instrument panel ornamentation, chrome-plated air registers and updated meter-cluster lighting. The interior also gets some new features including a Multi-terrain Monitor, a new Multi-information Display, an Eco Driving Indicator light and zone display, a heated steering wheel and Dynamic Radar Cruise Control.

Toyota has unveiled the updates to its legendary Land Cruiser for the 2013 model year.

The 2013 Land Cruiser is powered by a 5.7L V8 with 381 horsepower at 5,600 rpm and 401 lb-ft. of torque at 3,600 rpm that's mated to a six-speed transmission.