JPY1000 unlimited motorway toll started

In Japan, as a part of measures to boost the economy, a new system has started on motorways in rural areas. Cars with an ETC (electronic toll collection) system can go on these toll roads for unlimited mileage with JPY1000 on weekends and public holidays. I would like to tell you about this government’s policy.

As the effect, we can definitely expect more people will go for a long distance drive.

If it is only JPY1000 wherever you go, why not go on a long trip? It will surely contribute to an increase in visitor numbers at tourist sites. It will also be a great opportunity for the automotive industry to renew people’s awareness of how to enjoy their car.

After paying a large amount of money to the country’s road maintenance and improvement fund for a long time, this is an exciting offer for people who always thought toll roads “very expensive” and decided not to use them. Some people might use their cars instead of using bullet trains to visit their parents and some might want to plan a trip to a hot spring they have been wanting to visit for a while; more people are expected to use their cars.

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport are expecting the economic effect of this JPY1000 motorway toll would be 700 to 800 billion yen in the next 2 years. The result of the questionnaire to users shows that day trips (average personal spending of JPY6000) would increase from 7.7 times a year to 10.6 times a year and overnight trips (average personal spending of JPY23000) would increase from 2.2 times a year to 3.5 times a year. Although it is impossible to estimate the extent of the effect exactly because we will have to take the loss in the demand of public transport such as trains into consideration, people from tourist spots within easy access from the main motorways are placing great expectations on this new policy.

On the other hand, there are some drawbacks. Increased volume of traffic also means more risk of accidents and heavier traffic jams. The other day, TV showed a queue of women waiting to use the toilet for more than 20 minutes. Also there would be more concern of the environmental burden from gas emissions. It is going to cost the government 500 billion yen per year and is going to be done when the nation’s finances are deep in debt.
However, if there is a possibility of an economic boost more than the budget, it is surely worth trying. I am going to make up a plan myself to fully enjoy driving which I almost forgot about.

If we have more people like myself, then we can expect that it might boost the demand of cars by renewing their views towards them. These days, more people use rental cars without owning their own cars or share their cars and their concept of cars is changing from “hobby” to “tool”; but car dealers are taking it as a good chance to activate the chilled market with this economic boost measure. We think this is a chance that does not come twice, to strengthen the connection with the users through various events and suggested plans for long distance travel using this “JPY1000 motorway”.

At JPC, when Japanese people buy their cars through us, more people add an ETC system when they order a car. At the moment, so many people have ordered the system, the manufacturers cannot keep up with production and shops cannot tell when they are going to get them. Although this system has just started, we can feel consumers’ excitement by seeing so many of them wanting the ETC system on their cars. There was a Nobel Prize winning American economist who said that the economy is psychology but I really hope this is going to shake consumers’ feelings and they become increasingly interested in cars.


★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
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(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
3B YS-Building, 1-2-2 Botan, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955

Used-car ranking 2008

Large traders who sell used cars at auction are firstly car dealers and secondly used car buyers. Cars listed by dealers are the ones they bought from their individual clients. These are the cars clients traded-in to use it as a part of the finance to purchase a new car. Japanese people have a weakness for dealers of leading manufacturer brands such as “Toyota”, “Nissan” and “Honda” and when a Japanese person buys a car, about 70% would buy it from a dealer. This is the reason why the numbers of cars from dealers listed at auction is the highest. Next highest are used car traders. Because the prices dealers give their customers are usually low, if they are after the top dollars, they go around a number of used-car buyer shops that buy cars for cash, compare their offers and sell the cars to the one who gave them the highest price. (If they are not happy with the prices, then they come to JPC and ask us to sell them at auction on their behalf.)

The largest used car buyer shop, Gulliver International announced the types of vehicle they had bought in 2008.

When a car is ranked high, it of course means that there are many of them around but it also means that they are popular in the used-car market and they are sort-after vehicles. Lots of people wanting the cars means that the cars are good quality and popular: so you can use this ranking when you buy a new car. It would be a wise thing to do in regard to a car holding its resale value.

Let’s check the ranking.
1) Suzuki Wagon R
2) Daihatsu Move
3) Honda Fit
4) Honda Odyssey
5) Honda Life
6) Honda Step Wagon
7) Toyota Estima
8) Toyota Vitz
9) Nissan Elgrand
10) Toyota Hilux Surf

Suzuki Wagon R has been the top throughout the year. An accumulated total of more than 3 million cars were sold. Being a compact car, they are easy to handle; which eventually leads to them to be the most common car in Japan at the moment.
The second ranking was the Move, another compact car. It means surely more and more people are buying compact cars. Also more compact cars like the Fit are ranked high and new generation compact cars are now moving over to the second generation. This is, as a result of the numbers of the compact cars increasing in the market but it means that the trend is steadily moving towards eco cars.

From now on, eco cars such as hybrid cars are expected to be ranked high, I recommend you to buy an eco car when you are buying a new car.

Was the car you want on the list?


★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
★ JPCTRADE Home page : http://jpctrade.com/
★ JPCTRADE Blog : http://jpctrade.blogspot.com/

(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
3B YS-Building, 1-2-2 Botan, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955

What to do to survive if you fall in water with your car

It was when I went to an auction place the other day. While checking the cars before auction, I noticed that right in front of my eyes was a submerged vehicle (which was written on the slip). It was a Skyline GT-R. Although I had no plan of bidding on it, because I personally like the car, I borrowed the key to have a closer look.

The engine had been changed and there was no defects in the electric system. No problem with the gears either. However, there was a vague line at the bottom 1/3 of the door. It was obvious the water had come up to the line. There was also some, hard to describe but weird smell. Ripping the floor covering under the seat, I found a little bit of rust there.

These cars are usually the ones which went under the water because of natural disasters and could not cope with rapid increase of water level; and most of them have to be written off. But an expensive car like a Skyline GT-R can still hold some commercial value, so I guess the owner brought it into the auction after putting a new engine in. The result was 30% less than the average price.

Checking previous data, in Japan 200～300 people a year die from drowning in accidents involving cars. Now I would like to tell you how to get out of a car in water in case you face a situation like this:


＊ If you fall into water
Calm yourself down, take your seatbelt off, open the window and get yourself out. If you cannot open the window, use a hammer to break the window and get out. If you cannot break the window, just wait calmly until water fills the car up until there is no difference in water pressures outside and inside the car, open the door and get out. You can purchase a special hammer at car dealers, etc.
Every year, tens of deaths by drowning are reported from cars that fell into water by bad driving or slipping. Even when you fall into water, don’t panic. Cars will not go down that fast. If you keep calm, you will have more than enough time to get out safely.

＊ To get out from a window
1. Undo your seatbelt
2. Open a window
3. Get yourself out

＊ If you cannot open the windows
1. Break a window using a hammer
You can easily break a window if you have a special hammer with a pointy edge. These are sold at car dealers or car accessory shops.
2. Caution: some cars have accident-proof front and/or rear windows which are hard to break!
Never break a window when the water comes up to the level of the door window because broken pieces will gush inside the car.

＊ When you cannot get out of a window
1. Unlock the door
Even if it is an electric lock, you can unlock it with the manual lever or a knob under each door
2. Wait calmly until water comes up to the level of between your chest and neck.
3. Deep breath, open the door and get out
With water pressure, the door will be heavy, so you need to kick it hard to open it.

Fortunately, I have not had this sort of experience yet but if we unfortunately face a situation like this (of course we hope we will not), please do not panic. Remember the instruction and save your life.


★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
★ JPCTRADE Home page : http://jpctrade.com/
★ JPCTRADE Blog : http://jpctrade.blogspot.com/

(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
3B YS-Building, 1-2-2 Botan, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955

Ferraris & Rolls-Royces: why are they selling well now?

In the middle of a depression in car sales worldwide, only the sale of “Super-luxury” cars with a price tag of over 10 million yen like Italian Ferraris is increasing. It seems nothing can affect them. Some say the reason is because their customers are a handful of the wealthy class called “Super-rich” such as politicians and royal families and those people’s wealth is not easily affected by the change in the economy, but others say that some people buy them as a risk-free asset like gold.
Last year, the manufacturer who reached record high sales was Ferrari, one of the well-known luxury sport car brands. With 2 years worth of unfinished orders, they increased their production. Although the sales in North America dropped slightly, they sustained their strong economic performance in the Middle East and Asia, selling 450 in Japan with a 9.2% increase over the previous year. Their new model sport car “California”, first shown to the public at the Paris International Motor Show last autumn, cost more than 20 million yen but soon after the photos of the car were published, orders flooded in to push this year’s numbers of sales for the whole of Ferrari.

Another Italian brand Maserati recorded 580, a 25% increase in sales in Japan last year and 8600, a 17% increase worldwide, which was their 2nd highest in history. Their new model with automatic shift brought expansion in their sales in the US market. They showed their new luxury sedan “Quattroporte Sport GT” at the January North American Auto Show and received favourable comments. They are targeting a similar number of sales this year. Also British Rolls-Royce, whose car prices are around 40 million yen, increased their world-wide sales by 10%.

On the other hand, Germany’s Mercedes Benz whose cars are luxury but the average prices are around 5 million yen, is struggling. In 2008, the worldwide sales of BMW have dropped by 4% and in Japan total sales of the BMW brand have dropped by 23.7%. Mercedes Benz sales in Japan have dropped by 21.0% and they are facing a harsh situation. Toyota’s luxury brand “Lexus” has also experienced a drop of 16.1% in worldwide sales and 25.4% in domestic sales.

Super luxury cars are doing extremely well. For their particular customer segments, these cars seem to retain their value even after they become used, some economists pointed out that “they have universal value as an asset while the share market is fracturing”. I guess you can only buy these super cars from special dealers so if you want to buy one you will not have many places you can go. Therefore, there is not much competition in prices and they are traded at in a high price range.

It seems odd that only super luxury cars are doing well during this world recession, doesn’t it?


★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
★ JPCTRADE Home page : http://jpctrade.com/
★ JPCTRADE Blog : http://jpctrade.blogspot.com/

(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
3B YS-Building, 1-2-2 Botan, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955

How to save on fuel costs 1

Recently, there is not much positive news in the auto business but there are a few hot topics such as Honda’s launch of the Incite and Toyota’s big cut of \300,000 from the original price of their new Prius which is going on the market in May. Today, for people who cannot afford a hybrid car, I would like to tell you how to cut fuel costs and improve fuel efficiency.

There are 4 different stages of movement when a car runs. Here are the percentages of each stage when the whole running procedure (from the engine start to stop) is 100%:

(Movement; % of the fuel consumption against the whole running procedure)
1) Starting & accelerating: 35%
2) Cruising (at a certain speed): 45%
3) Reducing speed: 5%
4) Stopping: 15%

Let’s analyse the data.
When you are 1) Starting & accelerating a car, the percentage of the fuel consumption reaches 35%. For example, when you start and accelerate a bicycle, a lot of strain goes to your feet to pedal and you need to pedal harder to speed up the bicycle. Similarly, when you start a car or accelerate a car, it puts strain largely on the car’s engine which requires more energy. The energy is provided by burning the fuel. Thus when you start and accelerate a car, the percentage of the fuel consumption increases.

When you are 2) Cruising at a certain speed, you use the most fuel of all the 4 stages: 45%. This is because you keep your foot on the accelerator for a longer time than the other stages. However, thinking about fuel consumption, because your acceleration is steady unlike when you start and accelerate a car suddenly and you do not need to push the accelerator harder, this movement can keep fuel consumption down. (This is why driving on a motorway is better.)

3) Reducing speed requires the least fuel out of the 4 stages and it is the movement which needs the least fuel consumption.

4) means you still use 15% of the fuel even when your car is not moving, which means when you are in the middle of a traffic jam, waiting for the light change and when your car is still using the fuel while idling in a car park, etc. Yes, idling uses more fuel than we usually think.

These 4 stages are also dependent on the driving environment for the driver.
For example, a driver who drives around a city, crawling at a snail’s pace in traffic jams and stopping at intersections often, uses more bad-for-fuel movements of 1) Starting and accelerating and 4) Stopping. Their fuel consumption is not as good.

On the other hand, the drivers who drive outer-city, they uses the stage 2) Cruising which they can save on fuel, so they can keep their fuel consumption relatively low.

So remember this:
・Starting and accelerating: uses most fuel
・Cruising and reducing speed: relatively low fuel consumption
・Stopping: uses more fuel than we think

Check where you are wasting the fuel and think about it when you drive next time. Are you driving economically?


★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
★ JPCTRADE Home page : http://jpctrade.com/
★ JPCTRADE Blog : http://jpctrade.blogspot.com/

(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
3B YS-Building, 1-2-2 Botan, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955

Tata Motors in India unveiled its “Nano”

At last, this month, the Tata Group, the largest Indian corporation will be launching its much-talked-about budget compact car “Nano”. Since January 2008, when the company announced at the “India Auto Expo” that they are going to sell them for 100,000 Rupee (about 190,000 yen) , having to change the factory sites, the original plan has been delayed greatly. However, the time has come!

They named it “Nano” because, although its body is small and its price is low, it has all the necessary hi-techs in it. It is slightly smaller than Japanese compact cars but it clears the “EuroⅣ”, the European gas emission standard and is within the world’s safety standards.

The Nano’s body has an easy to produce structure broken down into modules. From the supplier, all parts will be delivered sub-assembled; so the factories do not need as much investment in facilities as in normal car production. Also, Nano is assembled in a new plant especially built for that purpose, production mix with existing vehicles does not need to be considered. A very efficient production process can be facilitated.

The group is also planning a “Franchise Chain” system with companies who want to produce Nanos by providing necessary design information and skills to build a production plant. This is to save the physical distribution cost by producing the car near its users. This is a way to diffuse the risks of excessive investment and to nurture new business.

The development of Nano was to bring the Chairman of Tata Motors Ratan Tata’s dreams to reality: when he thought about a “People’s Car”, to “turn the world automotive business upsidedown” , he wanted “ to make a 4 people car under 100,000 Rupee to provide it to everyone”, “to promote employment by making cars” and “nurture young business entrepreneurs”.

This Tata is the most respected business group in India and apart from automobiles, their business includes food, consumable goods, energy, hospitality and finance industries, IT, etc. and their existence is something people cannot live without. Also Tata Financial Group donates most of their profit to charities such as hospitals and churches. Buying a Nano means buying a part of their philosophy.
Ratan Tata says “I am not saying I will make money with Nanos but I am not going to drive the firm into bankruptcy with Nanos”. He is not making Nanos as the main business but is placing the priority on his “vision” of contributing to Indian society by making profit from the conglomeration of all the companies Tata owns.

To carry out anything, we do need our “visions”. Business profit and contribution to society seem to be incompatible but they are not. There are so many things I should be learning from the Tata Group. Keep watching out for Nanos!


★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
★ JPCTRADE Home page : http://jpctrade.com/
★ JPCTRADE Blog : http://jpctrade.blogspot.com/

(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
3B YS-Building, 1-2-2 Botan, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955