In the long-established midsummer’s endurance race, Round 6 of SUPER GT the “International POKKA 1000km” event took place on August 24th at Suzuka Circuit (1 lap: 5.807km). Starting from fourth on the grid, the CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (#12 Tsugio Matsuda/Sebastien Philippe) withstood the severe long-distance and about six hours’ racing to take the win. The NISSAN GT-R has now taken a total of four victories from six races in this season’s SUPER GT.

Setting the 2ND-quickest time in qualifying, the MOTUL AUTECH GT-R (#22 Michael Krumm/Masataka Yanagida/Dominik Schwager) inherited pole position when the #100 NSX had to start from the back, ahead of the 173-lap, 1,000-kilometre event. From the opening lap, veteran driver Michael Krumm led beautifully, handing over to Yanagida from the front as scheduled. Though he temporarily lost the lead due to being blocked by a GT300 car ahead, the team’s deft pit work ensured they soon returned to the head of the field. Krumm and Yanagida alternated driving duties, safeguarding their position until the halfway point of the race. On lap 118, third driver Dominik Schwager got behind the wheel. Soon after, the rear cowl suddenly started to come off the car, making for a very delicate situation. An unscheduled visit to the pits meant that regrettably, the machine fell out of contention for the win. However, the team fought relentlessly to the very end, and with Michael Krumm driving the final stint, reached fourth place at the flag.

Meanwhile, having started from fourth on the grid, the #12 GT-R experienced difficulty with the rear hub in the opening stages of the race, forcing an out-of-sequence pit stop on lap 25. Driver Matsuda went back out on track, returning to hand over to Philippe on lap 62 after having piloted the car since the start of the event. From that point on, the car continued to steadily bring down to the gap to its rivals in front. By lap 87, it was up to 2nd place. As the laps continued, the car strengthened its position in 2nd as Matsuda shortened the gap to the #100 NSX in front. At the car’s final stop on lap 138, Philippe once again took the wheel as the margin to the rival in the lead was reversed. Philippe never gave an inch, rising from 2nd place to the lead position with a calculated drive in front of 37,000 fans, to end his run on the centre step of the podium.

Source: Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.

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Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and PT. Nissan Motor Indonesia will present the “NISSAN TECHNOLOGY SQUARE” event at the Kelapa Gading Mall in Jakarta, Indonesia. The public automotive technologies showcase opens today and runs through August 25.

Indonesia is the second market where we hold this event. After completing its run in Indonesia, the Nissan Technology Square will visit several cities in multiple markets, including Singapore, Malaysia and India, etc.

At the Nissan Technology Square, Nissan will showcase how the company’s automotive technologies address the environment, safety and innovation. Visitors can experience examples of Nissan’s innovation and the future of automobiles through the exhibition, interactive displays and demonstrations.

Nissan chose PIVO2, an environmentally focused, electric urban commuter, as a key communications character for the event. First presented as one of the key concept vehicles at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, the vehicle embodies “friendly innovation” to create a new car-driver relationship. As such, PIVO2 serves as an ideal focal point for the Nissan Technology Square, where a quarter scale model of the vehicle will be displayed.

“All of our technologies promise consumers the pleasure of driving based on trust in our environmental, safety and quality technologies — what we call “Trusted Driving Pleasure,” said Mitsuhiko Yamashita, Nissan Executive Vice President. “We hope to deliver our passion for products through the real-world technologies and innovations we build into every Nissan vehicle.”

As part of Nissan’s commitment to supporting education, the event will be held in collaboration with local schools. Hideyuki Sakamoto, Nissan Corporate Vice President, will visit and talk with students about automotive technology, Nissan’s technical development activities and the latest technologies.

The Nissan Technology Square is part of the company’s ongoing communications outreach across Asia, which started with the successful Design Forum in 2007.

Source: Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.

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Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today unveiled all-electric and original hybrid electric prototype vehicles, both powered by advanced lithium-ion batteries. Under the NISSAN GT 2012 business plan, the company has committed to zero-emission vehicle leadership, and has announced plans to introduce an all-electric vehicle in 2010 and mass market globally in 2012.

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., today unveiled the ECO Pedal – a world first technology – designed to assist drivers to become more fuel-efficient. When the eco-pedal system is on, each time the driver steps on the accelarator, a counter push-back control mechanism is activated if the system detects excess pressure, helping to inform the driver that they could be using more fuel than required. An eco-driving indicator integrated into the instrument panel feeds the driver with real-time fuel consumption levels to help improve his/her driving behavior. The ECO Pedal system can be turned on or off according to the driver’s preference.

Nissan plans to commercialize the ECO Pedal during 2009. Research conducted by Nissan has shown that by using the ECO Pedal drive system, drivers can improve fuel efficiency by 5-10%*1, depending on driving conditions.

The ECO Pedal system is fed data on the rate of fuel consumption and transmission efficiency during acceleration and cruising, and then calculates the optimum acceleration rate. When the driver exerts excess pressure on the accelerator, the system counteracts with the pedal push-back control mechanism.

At the same time, the eco-driving indicator incorporated on the instrument panel indicates the optimal level for fuel-efficient driving. Driving within the optimal fuel consumption range, the indicator is green. It begins to flash when it detects increased acceleration before reaching the fuel consumption threshold and finally turns amber to advise the driver of their driving behavior.

In order to achieve reduction in CO2 emissions, Nissan takes a “triple-layer” solution that encompasses vehicle technologies, driving behavior and traffic conditions. The ECO Pedal supports the second-layer addressing driving behavior and is among a range of eco-friendly technologies being pursued under the Nissan Green Program 2010. The company’s environmental roadmap aims at developing new technologies, products and services that can lead to real-world reductions in vehicle CO2 emissions, cleaner emissions, and recycling of resources.

Source: Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.

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Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., today announced that consolidated net income after tax totaled 52.8 billion yen (US $505 million, euro 323 million) in the first quarter of fiscal year 2008, ending March 31, 2009, down 42.8% compared with the same period a year ago. The drop in net income is due mainly to a reduction in operating profit driven by the 54.7 billion yen negative impact of foreign exchange rates and provisions booked for residual value risk on leased vehicles in the U.S. and Canada for 2008, 2009 and 2010, amounting to 42 billion yen.

Globally, Nissan sold a total of 936,000 vehicles in the April-to-June period, up 6.9% compared to same period in 2007. In North America, sales were 330,000 units, up 1.9%. Sales in the United States were 253,000 units, down 1.5% in a market which was down by 12.0%; Nissan’s market share in the U.S. grew by 0.7 percentage points to 6.6%. In Japan, sales were 148,000 units, down by 2.2%. European sales remained flat at 156,000 units. Growth continues to derive from the General Overseas Markets with sales up by 23.6% to 302,000 units.

Despite an increase in sales volume, Nissan’s net revenue fell 4.1% to 2.3473 trillion yen (US $22.44 billion, euro 14.37 billion) due mainly to the negative impact of foreign exchange rates. Operating profit totaled 79.9 billion yen (US $764 million, euro 489 million), down 46.1%. The decline was driven by foreign exchange and residual value risk. The operating profit margin came to 3.4%. Ordinary profit amounted to 82.5 billion yen (US $789 million, euro 505 million), down 45.5%.

“In the face of the severe operating environment, Nissan remains resilient but cautious on the outlook for our industry,” said Nissan President and CEO, Carlos Ghosn. “We have identified the major risks and taken actions to address them, particularly in the U.S. market.”

In 2008, Nissan will launch a total of nine all-new products globally. The first quarter saw the launch of three products – Teana, Maxima and Infiniti FX. Under the NISSAN GT 2012 mid-term business plan, Nissan will launch 60 all-new models in the next five years.

Nissan’s forecast remains unchanged for the full fiscal year with an operating profit of 550 billion yen and net income of 340 billion yen.

Note: Amounts in dollars and euros are translated for the convenience of the reader at the foreign exchange rates of 104.6 yen/dollar and 163.4 yen/euro, the average rates for the fiscal year to date.

Source: Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. If you are looking for Japanese used vehicles exporters, please visit : http://www.japanautopages.com/business_type/exporter.php 

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