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Carlos Ghosn says Nissan Leaf is a top priority

After the devastating earthquake in Japan earlier this year, what was at the top of Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn's list of things to do? Make sure production of the all-electric Leaf got back on track.

Hybrid dealer gets around tight inventory by selling same cars twice

The Florida Hybrid Center is a pretty unusual dealership. It's hybrid-only, dealing in nothing but new hybrids from Lexus and used Toyota Prius. It's also a dealership with a problem, the kind of problem that other dealers would love to have: it's too successful.

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Honda pouring $355M into Ohio plant upgrades

The second quarter was not a good one for Honda. Supply shortages as a result of the debilitating earthquake in Japan and the subsequent tsunami resulted in a U.S. market share reduction from 10.6 percent to 9.3 percent. North American plants were impacted as well, as production dropped 26 percent from Q2, 2010.

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Suzuki's emergency quake action plan? Moving

Japanese automakers are continuing to evaluate their strategies for coping with natural disasters after this year's earthquake and tsunami, and for Suzuki, that apparently means packing up shop and moving to higher ground. According to Automotive News, the manufacturer is investing around $494 million to move its factories and research center away from the coastal city of Hamamatsu. The report notes that scientists estimate that there's

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Toyota says NA production to recover by September, earlier than expected

Toyota has announced that it expects its North American production to reach 100 percent capacity as early as September – far ahead of original post-quake estimates. So far, eight of the company's 12 models built in North America are back to 100 percent capacity, and total production is hoped to improve by as much as 80 percent by August. In an official press release, Bob Carter, Toyota's group vice president and general manager, says that

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VW phasing out rearview cameras thanks to quake shortages?

It struck back on March 11th, 2011, but the earthquake in Japan continues to cause havoc all around the world in some unique ways. Rumor has it that if you were hoping to purchase a Volkswagen with a rearview camera, you're going to have to wait a while. According to AskaVWSalesGuy.com, Volkswagen

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Japenese automakers will work on weekends to protect power grid

Japan is still struggling to repair itself in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and the country's auto industry is looking to help out wherever it can. Automotive News reports that automakers and suppliers will work weekends and take off Thursdays and Fridays in an effort to ease pressure on the nation's power grid. The March 11 earthquake wiped out eight percent of the country's overall electricity capacity, which me

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Nissan to reinforce Japanese plants in defense of earthquakes

The March 11 earthquake in Japan left the country's auto industry with a broken supply chain and a few serious plant problems. Bloomberg reports that Nissan is looking to strengthen some key plants in an effort to minimize harm from any future quakes, starting with the heavily damaged Iwaki engine plant in the Fukushima prefecture.

How GM avoided its own disaster after Japanese quake

While Toyota has been one of the automakers hardest hit by the tragic Japanese earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters in March of this year, nearly every auto company on the planet felt its impact. Thanks to a global, tight-laced network of interconnected suppliers, manufacturers were left scrambling to make up gaps in the parts chain when Japan's manufacturing mechanism ground to a halt.

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Toyota Q4 profits fall 77% due to quake

Toyota has announced profits of $314 million for the first three months of 2011, down 77 percent versus the automaker's fiscal fourth quarter a year earlier. Toyota still managed a profit in spite of the March 11 earthquake that shuttered most Japanese plants, yet the $314 million is only a fourth of what analysts were expecting Toyota to make. Toyota's sales were predictably low for the quarter, and revenue was hurt as a result.

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Radiation found on Japanese cars shipped to Chile

According to The Mainichi Daily News, customs agents in Chile have detected low levels of radiation on vehicles shipped from Japan. Of the 2,500 vehicles shipped from the port of Yokohama, radioactivity was detected on 21 once they reached Iquique. The levels of radiation were determined to be too low to be of any harm to humans by the Chilean Nuclear Commission, though that didn't stop

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Honda delaying next CR-V

According to Bloomberg, Honda has delayed the release of the next-generation CR-V as a result of supplier constriction brought on by the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear tragedies in Japan. The report says that the 2012 Honda CR-V will debut a month later than originally anticipated, though that model won't be the only vehicle in the Japanese automaker's stable impacted by the events. Bloo

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Renesas Electronics to restart automotive microchip production early

Japan's Renesas Electronics Corp. is moving up the restart date for automotive microchip production at its last inactive plant. The company says it should have operations back up and running at its Naka plant the week of June 15, a couple weeks earlier than its original estimate.

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