Japanese Car News: End Of HKS Era, Honda UK Investment, New Toyota C-HR … And More!
HKS Co-Founder Passes Away
Hiroyuki Hasegawa, one of the founding members of Japan’s preeminent aftermarket parts manufacturers HKS, has passed away at the age of 71 years old.
Like many car fans of his generation, Hasegawa grew up idolizing the formula drivers and race cars, rally cars, and the nitro-crazy dragsters of the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s. Starting his career at Yamaha Motor Company as an engineer, he and Goichi Kitagawa started HKS in a shed on a dairy farm in 1973, surrounded by the foothills of Mount Fuji. With funding from Sigma Automotive, Kitagawa and Hasegawa planned to design and create high-performance engines and components that OEMs were unable or unwilling to build.
It was in July of 1974 that they revealed their breakthrough product: a publicly available aftermarket turbocharger kit. Since that time, parts development has been the heart and soul of HKS, with a strong focus on electronic turbo timers, boost controllers, suspension kits, and a list of products far too numerous to include here.
HKS has kept their business local even after all these years, too: their primary R&D building is still located near that dairy farm shed, albeit in a building that takes up significantly more real estate. Over the years, Hasegawa oversaw numerous engineering projects involving record breaking modified cars from Japan’s Big Three. Toyota Celicas that broke the 300 KPH barrier with 600 HP engines, or a Toyota Supra that was first to break the 8 second 0-100 MPH record, and of course, the 1,200 HP Nissan 180SX. To sum up, Hasegawa’s list of engineering feats and records broken is far too long to include in just one article.
HKS mourns the loss of their co-founder, but looks forward to the future that he has helped to build as a joyful celebration of his life and legacy. Hasegawa-san and his company may have humble beginnings at the foot of Mount Fuji, but their future is unlimited.
Honda Backs Post-Brexit Britain
In the wake of Britain’s vote to exit the European Union, Honda’s Europe chief Katsushi Inoue has stated the company’s intentions to make their Swindon plant a “global production hub”, revealing that the automaker would be manufacturing their new five-door Civic at the facility.
He went on to say that this plan was not dependent on the Brexit vote this past June, and they have not changed their plan based on the Brexit vote results. This commitment by Honda was made just mere days after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered a harsh criticism of the Brexit vote and the financial and economic uncertainty that decision is likely to cause.
Abe wrote and delivered a heretofore unprecedented 15 page report at the G20 conference, wherein he cautioned the world of the financial peril Britain is risking by giving up access to the EU’s single market.
According to plans for the new Civic, Honda will commit to building 160,000 motors a year at the Swindon plant. In a critical change, however, roughly 40 percent of the production will go to the US, making this the first time Swindon has manufactured cars for the American market. Experts theorize that this is intended to reduce the plant’s current reliance on the European car market.
There were fears among industry experts and economists that Honda planned to use the Referendum results as reason to shutter the Swindon plant as they had during the 2008 credit crisis. Swindon had been scheduled to stop producing the C-RV in 2018; however, in light of this announcement they will not be taking over a portion of Global Production for the Civic.
Hopefully, this investment boost by Honda will help provide stability and certainty for numerous Britons who might otherwise have been without work come 2019.
New Toyota C-HR Crossover On Sale
Compact crossovers continue to be the hot new ticket worldwide, and Toyota’s new C-HR (Coupe High-Rider) is bringing some sleek new looks to this niche market. This latest offering by Toyota goes on sale in Japan before the end of 2016, and Europe and America will have access to this sweet CUV in 2017. Currently, there are four trim levels being offered: the S and G versions offer a 1.8 liter hybrid four cylinder, and the S-T and G-T will come with a 1.2 liter turbocharged four cylinder. Toyota hasn’t unveiled official specs on powertrains just yet, but in Europe this new hybrid cranks about 120 horsepower (90 kilowatts), and the turbocharged model generates 114 hp (85 kilowatts). Certain Euro markets will also have access to a naturally aspirated 2.0 liter option that offers 148 HP (110 kilowatts).
Rumors currently abound regarding the yet-to-be-announced specs for the US model, though many rumors seem to indicate that the US will only receive the 2.0-liter four-cylinder. On the other hand, if Toyota decides to market the hybrid in the US, the C-HR would have corner on the market with those options.
Further reports state that Toyota higher-ups have plans to add a high-performance version to the C-HR lineup later on. Their current plans to race the C-HR at the Nurburgring Circuit 24 Hours gives some heft to the truth in that rumor, too. The competition model sported a 1.5-liter four-cylinder that produces 178 horsepower (133 kilowatts).
All trim levels of the C-HR being sold in Japan come with Toyota’s new Safety Sense P driver assistance suite. Collision braking, lane departure warning, radar cruise control, and automatic high beams are all a part of the standard tech on this crossover, and customers can also add features like rear-cross traffic alert and blind spot monitoring.
The concept C-HR was first unveiled at the 2014 Paris Motor Show, with an updated design show in Frankfurt in 2015. Originally, Toyota had planned to sell the C-HR as a Scion in the U.S., but Scion’s departure meant a brand switch to the Toyota name there. Their little CUV will have a lot of competition on the field as they go up against the Honda HR-V, Nissan’s Juke, Mazda’s CX-3, and Jeep’s recently redesigned Renegade.
Nissan Sells Stake in Calsonic Kansei
Nissan recently announced that it is selling its stake in auto parts manufacturer Calsonic Kansei as part of the automaker’s plans to streamline their company by liquidating non-core businesses assets in order to focus all their resources on EVs and self-driving cars.
The buyer for the Japan-based Calsonic is U.S. buyout firm KKR, which has cut a deal valued at roughly 4.5 billion for the autoparts maker. Current information on record states that KKR is paying out 1,860 yen per share for Calsonic, which primarily manufactures vehicle interiors, climate control systems, compressors, electronics, and exhaust systems.
The listed buyout price offers a 28% premium based on Calsonic’s most recent share price. The autoparts maker employs about 22,000, and generates approximately 1.05 billion yen per year supplying parts to other car companies such as Renault, Isuzu, Daimler, and General Motors.
Nissan has recently been initiating plans to sell off smaller side interests as it beings to turn its gaze to developing tech for cars and working self-driving vehicles, which it currently views as key to its future in the auto industry.
Time will tell if this strategy is the best option, but given the global concern regarding climate change that the demand for EVs and self-driving cars that is building in Japan ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo their plans seems sound.
The Japanese government is also squarely behind automakers like Nissan who are investing research into EVs and fuel-cell technologies, as they wish to present the image of a world leader in innovation, technology and environmentally sound long term planning for their infrastructure and city planning by 2020. Clearly, Nissan plans to be in the driver’s seat of this initiatives in the years to come, and major revelations and breakthroughs are anticipated from all of Japan’s automakers in the next several years.
Toyota Profits Low Due to Strong Yen, Weak U.S. Growth
Due to a stronger yen currency valuation and scarcity of supply for SUVs sold in the U.S., Toyota suffered an approximate 43% loss in operating profit for the past quarter. This loss is attributed to exchange-rate pressures and slow sales in the vital U.S. market, and an ensuing 8.8% year-over-year drop in annual revenue.
Toyota’s operating profit of 474.6 billion yen ($4.55 billion) fell short of economic estimates of approximately 476 billion yen posited by analysts earlier in the year. In spite of this drop in profit, Toyota has actually increased its annual profit forecast, as increased valuation of the yen halted short of predicted levels. This caused a slight increase in depository receipts in early trading on Wall Street after the news was announced to the general public.
The year-over-year drop in operating profit was largely caused by one determining factor: the value of the Japanese yen has been rising along with the U.S. Dollar and the euro. Dollars earned by Toyota in the U.S. are worth 20 yen less than they were last year, and since Toyota reports their financial results in yen, their profit shows a significant loss. In fact, exchange rates are attributed the 330-billion-yen impact on Toyota’s operating profit versus last year’s results.
There is good news though: as with many Japanese companies, Toyota’s fiscal year begins on April 1st, and the quarter ending September 30 represents the second quarter of Toyota’s 2017 fiscal year. The arrangement of dates means that at mid-year, Toyota was not precisely where they were anticipated to be, but they currently are predicting a strong 3rd and 4th quarter to close out their fiscal year. That may not be inaccurate as the American holiday season approaches during Q3 of their fiscal year.
