Nissan
Green: Tesla's Musk Donates Solar Plant; Marines Buy Electric Trucks; Nissan, Mitsu Join in Venture
By Michelle Krebs December 14, 2010Edmunds.com's Green Car Advisor reports today that Tesla's Elon Musk is donating a solar generating station to the Hurricane Response Center in Alabama, the U.S. Marine Corps is purchasing Smith Newton electric trucks and Nissan and Mitsubishi have joined in an electric charger sharing venture. more
Nissan Leaf Wins European Car of the Year
By Michelle Krebs November 30, 2010The all-electric Nissan Leaf was named the 2011 European Car of the Year. "The jury acknowledged that the Nissan LEAF is a breakthrough for electric cars. Nissan Leaf is the first EV that can match conventional cars in many respects," said Hakan Matson, president of the European Car of the Year jury. The jury includes 57 leading motoring journalists from 23 European countries. more
Sportscars Continue as Recession-Recovery's Biggest Casualties
By Bill Visnic November 9, 2010From top to bottom, the sportscar segments have been hammered by the last two years' economic upheaval - and while most analysts consider the broad auto market to be gaining a slow but consistent strength, sportscar sales are not recovering. Even Mazda Motor Corp.'s MX-5 Miata, the car many consider the bellwether of the sportscar market, can't regain its footing. Through October, Mazda had sold just 5,695 Miatas for the entire year, a number down 19 percent from its bleak 2009 number for the same period. Mazda's RX-8, the industry's one and only remaining home for the unique rotary more
Electric Leaf To Redefine Nissan Brand as Innovator
By Michelle Krebs November 2, 2010The Nissan Leaf is more than the first of a number of all-electric vehicles from Nissan; it draws a line in the sand to define the entire brand as an innovator, according to a top company executive. "Customers didn't know what Nissan stood for," Nissan Americas Chairman Carlos Tavares told the Automotive Press Association in Detroit Monday. The Leaf, however, "will be the flag" for Nissan as a brand recognized for innovation, he added. Indeed, before its recall crisis, Toyota was synonymous with bullet-proof quality; Honda for engineering expertise. That left Nissan's brand image a tad fuzzy, causing consumers more
2011 Nissan Juke: Anything But Boring
By Michelle Krebs July 21, 2010By Mark Holthoff Say what you will about the all-new 2011 Nissan Juke -- which Edmunds' Inside Line recently took for a First Drive -- but you definitely won't call it boring. And if you're anything like the readers who have commented on Edmunds.com, you'll fall into one of two camps: those who find Nissan's all-new compact SUV "daring," "amusing" and "unique," or those who think it's "weird," "lumpy" and "extraordinarily ugly in every way." more
Nissan Hopes To Juke Its Way Into Millennials' Driveways
By Michelle Krebs June 9, 2010It looks like a sort of hybrid mythological beast to some car buffs, sinisterly reptilian to others, based on comments posted on Edmunds.com forums. It has huge, 17-inch wheels but just a 1.6-liter engine. It's aimed at a generation of 20-something men who, studies suggest, just aren't that into cars. So when the Nissan Juke arrives in U.S. showrooms in October, it'll likely spark as many conversations as the rest of the company's new crop of interesting small cars, including the Nissan Cube and the upcoming Nissan Leaf all-electric vehicle. But will the quirky Juke attract a lot of more
Infiniti Counting on 2011 Version to Spark Sales of QX56 SUV
By Michelle Krebs May 28, 2010Like most truck-based utility vehicles, the Infiniti QX56 has been in the midst of a long-term decline in sales. But executives of the Nissan luxury division are counting on an even swankier yet more fuel-efficient 2011 version of the QX56 to recapture some of the brand's wandering customers and sell closer to peak rates marked soon after the original vehicle's introduction in 2004. "We will have months when we sell 800 to 900 of these," Ben Poore, Infiniti's vice president in charge of sales and marketing, told Edmunds.com. more
Lexus, Infiniti Not Interested in Big-Hatch Experiment
By Michelle Krebs April 9, 2010Plenty of words written and opinions expressed about the luxury midsize hatchbacks recently launched by BMW AG (550i GT) and Honda Motor Co. Ltd.'s Acura unit (ZDX). Most of the talk hasn't been complimentary -- the new cars' polarizing styling seems to be mostly polarizing toward the negative. American buyers famously don't favor hatchbacks, even in the lower market segments, so the introduction of the big-money 550i GT and the ZDX -- and to a lesser extent, Honda's new Accord Crosstour and Toyota Motor Corp.'s Venza -- has generated a lot of what-were-they-thinking criticism. But if BMW and Acura more
Daimler, Nissan, Renault Partner for Economics, Product Sharing
By Michelle Krebs April 7, 2010Daimler, Nissan and Renault confirmed Wednesday a wide-ranging partnership that includes equity stakes in each other, joint development of vehicles -- from small cars to light commercial vehicles and possibly luxury cars -- and technology sharing on batteries, electric cars and powertrains for small to luxury autos. The partnership is the latest step in the consolidation of global automakers forced by the roller-coaster economy and waning corporate profits at a time when automakers must invest substantially in low-margin small cars and expensive technologies to meet more stringent emission and fuel economy standards. In the past year, Fiat acquired a stake in Chrysler and more
NA Car of the Year Finalists Are Volt, Sonata and Leaf
By Michelle Krebs December 16, 2010The Chevrolet Volt, Hyundai Sonata and Nissan Leaf are finalists for the 2011 North American Car of the Year awards. Finalists for the 2011 North American Truck of the Year award are the Dodge Durango, Ford Explorer and Jeep Grand Cherokee. The half-dozen finalists for the prestigious awards were announced Thursday at an Automotive Press Association luncheon sponsored by organizers of the 2011 North American International Auto Show. The winners will be announced at the first press conference of the Detroit auto show on Jan. 10. more