Toyota has decided to deploy about 900 university-educated first-year employees who entered the company this spring to its factories for about three months beginning in January.

These employees, including those in white-collar and engineering positions, are scheduled to help assemble cars and perform other factory jobs. Although university graduates usually are sent to factories as a part of training, it is extremely rare for them to join assembly lines in full operation.

Toyota’s production sites are facing a labor shortage because its hybrid cars such as the Prius are in great demand.

However, it is difficult to employ new workers due to cost-reduction efforts and because future demand for such cars is uncertain. To cope with the situation, the company decided to utilize its first-year employees to help alleviate the labor shortage for the time being.

These new employees were assigned this month to the company’s headquarters, branches and research institutions after completing training at factories and distribution outlets.

The number of cars Toyota produced domestically dropped to 140,000 a month in February, when the company was forced to make the largest-ever production cuts.

Toward this end, Toyota is using support personnel dispatched from its business partners, including car parts makers, since June & began employing temporary workers in October for the first time in 16 months.

Japanese Used Vehicles for Sale

More than 12 all-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles are expected to hit the American market in the next three years.

They Promise to combine fuel efficiency, new technology and futuristic styling. Nissan will start with fleet sale.

A few all-electric Leaf will be available to individuals before a larger rollout in 2012.

After years of hope and hype, electron-powered driving finally appears to be on the verge of reality, In the next three years, at least a dozen pure electric or plug-in hybrid cars are slated to hit the market in America.

Electricity-driven vehicles from giants such as GM and Nissan, as well as start-ups like Fisker Automotive will provide consumers with a wide variety of choices.

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Non-Japanese automakers were absent from the Tokyo Auto Show 2009. The show was dominated by Toyota, Honda and Nissan. The complete auto show looked like a lonesome affair for the Japanese auto makers. Automakers like Volkswagen, BMW , GM & Ford did not take part in this show.

All of them attended the previous show in 2007.

Most of automakers are now banking on china and not Japan as the next biggest emerging market.

BRIC countries are emerging as the most popular destinations for the auto makers around the globe. These are Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Auto Show in New Delhi is coming up in January 2010 and global auto majors have already designed their plans and strategies for the upcoming auto show in India. Foreign auto makers are blaming recession for staying away of Tokyo Auto Show 2009.

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Japanese automakers such as Honda and Nissan are looking to reduce their reliance on American market.

Weak demand and a falling dollar have slashed profits for them in America.

They are also facing severe problems in their home market, as a poor turnout by manufacturers at Japan’s flagship motor show has shown. No major overseas brands made it to this year’s Tokyo Motors Show while floor space and the number of world premiere car models was half that of the previous show two year ago.

Japanese Used Vehicles for Sale

Every country was having their own regulations while importing any type of used vehicles from Japan.

Due to increase in the volume of the import of these Japanese used cars, almost country’s like Kenya, Russia, Mauritius, Jamaica, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Australia, United Kingdom, Caribbean Countries, Philippine’s government strictly asks to follow some guidelines to avoid importing useless or vehicles, which are harmful to the environment of their country.

One of the most common restrictions from the government of any country was related to manufacturing year of the vehicle importing to their country.

Actually in Japan you can know the details of first registration easily but the manufacturing year is not written on the export deregistration certificate or on Car Registration Certificate and it is necessary to mention the year of manufacturing while importing any used car to some of the countries.

Why these importing countries do not accept this first registration?

It is because the first registration means the month and the year of the first ownership of the vehicle in Japan, which does not provide any information about when it was actually manufactured. This the main problem which an importer face while buying any used car from Japan as to match his country’s importing regulations.

Like if we take an example of Kenya country regulation related to year manufacturing restriction it is to maximum 8 years back, taking this year as 2009 then you can import the vehicles only after 2001, you can not import any used car from Japan before this year.

Most of the cases especially of well-known manufacturers of cars don’t having too much difference between the first registrations and manufacturing year of the car, it could be Upto 2 months but it can be longer in case of the less popular cars.

Now a day to sort these problems and to ensure the buyers about the manufacturing year of the car, lots of Japanese dealers are providing some online solutions to check and verify the manufacturing years & months of the used car they are going to buy.

These informations can be available with no charges; importers or buyers just have to enter the Chassis number along with you have to select the maker’s name, now click the submit button and you will have your information immediately available online itself.

Want to check your country’s regulations please visit our Japan Auto Portal

Will a new effort to recycle electric car batteries give Nissan an edge in the electric car market?

If the joint venture with Sumitomo Corp. makes Nissan’s electric vehicles more affordable, it will, according to the Hybrid Owners of America.

“The company says the recycling project will allow them to lower the prices of their electric vehicles because they will take into account the resale value of the batteries.

Seems like a smart approach to be even greener with the product – both for the environment and customers pockets – and we expect to hear other manufactures will jump on this bandwagon.

90,910,000 Internet users in Japan

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry of Japan has informed that as of the end of 2008, the number of Internet users aged 6 years and older increased by 2.8 million to 90.91 million from the previous year. The penetration rate of Internet users also increased 2.3 points to 75.3 percent, according to a recent survey the ministry stated.

Using a multiple-response questionnaire, the survey showed the number of users who access the Internet with personal computers was the Highest at 82.55 million, while the number of people who access it from cell phones was 75.06 million.

Those accessing Internet via games console or TV was 5.67 million, it said.

In another survey regarding household Internet access, using personal computers at home the rate of households using high-speed broadband increased 5.8 points from the previous year, now reaching 73.4 percent. Of those who have broadband, 53.1 percent use a fiber optic network, according to the ministry.

The survey was conducted on 4.515 households with at least one person aged 20 of older.

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The Japan Automobile Importers Association recently said it has asked the government to revise tax breaks for buyers of imported vehicles are not at a disadvantage.

Imported cars have suffered sluggish sales compared with domestically produced cars because most imports are ineligible for recent tax breaks of subsidies for cleaner-running vehicles, it said.

Imported cars are believed to be at a disadvantage because the government’s standard for measuring fuel consumption places more importance on lower traveling speed than in Europe of America.

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Volkswagen, the biggest European automaker, said recently that it would buy 49.9 percent of the luxury sports car maker Porsche by the end of this year for $5.8 billion.

Until now, a VW statement said, VW had sought to acquire 42 percent of Porsche in the first step of a full merger of the two companies.

The overall calendar has not changed and the final merger of the two groups is still expected to occur in 2011, the VW statement said.

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The Federation of Russian Car Owners held the demonstration on the eve of the Day of the Motorist, marked on the last Sunday in October, to protest against increased customs duties, a doubling of the transport tax, the adoption of new technical regulations and rising fuel prices.

Valdivostok has been a center of opposition to a higher 30% tax on imported vehicles. Approximately 80% of cars in Russia’s Far East are second-hand imports from Japan and South Korea, and the tax, introduced last year to support domestic car production and extended earlier this month, has hit consumers there particularly hard. The organizers handed out leaflets on the new technical regulations and collected signatures for a petition.

The owners’ federation is preparing to submit a lawsuit to Russia’s Constitutional Court appealing legislation raising tariffs and the introduction of new technical regulations, which effectively prohibits right-hand-drive vehicles.

For the first nine months of 2009, 41,787 cars were imported, compared with 351,960 vehicles in the same period last year.

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