We’ve missed the actual anniversary- Japan’s first “kei car” specifications were first announced on July 8 1949- but Japan’s city cars still deserve a party. Auto Motor und Sport has a 51-image gallery of Kei-cars throughout the years that is sure to delight fans of tiny, sub-liter whips. For those unfamiliar with the Kei class, can get an update at wikicars, but here are the broad strokes. Original Kei-cars were limited to 2.8 meters in length, 1 meter width and 2 meters in height, and could have no more than 150cc of displacement. The latest rule changes (in 1998) limited Keis to 3.39m in length, 1.48 meters in width and 2 meters height. Displacement is now limited to a heady 660cc, and thanks to Japanese OEM mastery of tiny engines, horsepower must now be limited to 64 hp. Otherwise, the tiny rides come in a staggering array of flavors, from work trucks to baby exotics. Though they’ll never be a viable option on American roads, let’s thank the gods of automotive diversity that these weird whips have flourished with such vigor.

The worst recession in half a century will be prolonged as consumers see their jobs go away and their home prices head south, economists Nouriel Roubini and Robert Shiller warn on Bloomberg. The University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment fell by more than forecast to 64.6 from 70.8 in the prior month. And it may be time for some foreign automakers to evacuate crumbling Cartago, their countrymen caution.

Suzuki reported a precipitous 78 percent drop in US unit sales in June. Their first-half decline was 60 percent, the market’s worst. Mitsubishi is down 51 percent this year. Faltering since 2003, Mitsubishi doesn’t have far to fall. Mitsubishi “doesn’t make cars that are hot-sellers in the U.S.,” said CSM Worldwide analyst Masatoshi Nishimoto with polite Nipponese understatement. Sayonara?

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Over the weekend, Porsche complained loudly about a Monday ultimatum to accept Volkswagen’s merger proposal—or else. The answer from Wolfsburg: “Ultimatum? What ultimatum?”

“There is no ultimatum,” a VW spokesman told Reuters. He would not comment further.

Parallel worlds? Porsche Chairman Wolfgang Porsche and his deputy on the supervisory board, Uwe Hueck, said in a statement on Saturday they had been given an ultimatum by VW and Lower Saxony and that they would “not accept extortion.” Most likely explanation . . .

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Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology have co-developed a nickel-hydrogen battery that recharges in less than 10 seconds, the Nikkei [sub] reports. That should get your plug-in EV or hybrid back on the road much faster than getting a tank of gas, a coffee and a doughnut. The new battery’s performance barely declines even after 1,000 quick charges, the developers say. That’s the good news. The bad news:

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Mitsubishi has announced Japanese market pricing for its MiEV electric car, and it’s a staggering ¥4.38 million, or $45,660 according to Automotive News [sub]. And what does that buy you? 100 miles of lithium-ion powered range, 4 doors, a 14 hour charge time on 100-volt power (seven hours on 200 volts and 30 minutes on a high-output quick charger) and LED headlights. Unlike Subaru’s $40K+ Stella, however, the MiEV is headed stateside. Eventually. Hopefully the staggering price-point will have come down a bit by then.

Holy global overcapacity, Batman! Trading Markets reports that the world’s largest automaker is cutting Japanese production in half and overseas production by 43 percent, as it struggles to touch bottom. Toyota and its Hino and Daihatsu subsidiaries will produce 433,979 units gobally in April, down 46 percent from April 2008. Exports from Japan have been hit especially hard, dropping 70 percent (year-on-year) in April. According to the WSJ, all of the Japanese majors are dramatically decreasing domestic production on falling sales. Even without bankruptcy filings, it seems everyone in the gobal car game is facing some form of reorganization. Like Renault/Nissan’s new attempt to find another $2 billion in “synergy” savings. Try looking under the couch cushions, guys.

Yuasa is a well-known Japanese supplier of batteries. They just started to target the burgeoning market for automotive lithium cells. They commemorated this occasion with an electric car imported from the U.S.—in 1917.
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While sales of hybrids and plugins languish in the US, and are, for all intents and purposes, non-existent in Europe, in Japan, “the popularity of Honda Motor Co.’s Insight hybrid and the even greater popularity of Toyota Motor Corp.’s new Prius highlights that eco-friendly models are one of the few bright spots for automakers,” the Nikkei [sub] reports.

According to the Nikkei, “Honda’s Insight hybrid, released in February, became the best-selling model among all passenger cars, excluding minivehicles, in April.” Sales will heat up further after Toyota unveiled their third-generation Prius on Monday.
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Putting the “continuous” in “continuous improvement,” Toyota plans on replacing 40 percent of its senior managers and half the board members while reorganizing its North American business according to the Financial Times. Akio Toyoda takes over as president of his grandfather’s company next month and clearly wants to set a new tone at the top. “Some people are calling this a revolution or even a coup d’état,” says Koji Endo, a Credit Suisse analyst. “The size of the [financial] loss is huge. Somebody has to take responsibility for that.” Toyoda reportedly wants to bring back former senior executive Yoshimi Inaba, to revive its US operations. That effort could include unifying Toyota’s California-based US sales operation and Kentucky-based manufacturing unit under a single management structure, possibly based in New York. Under outgoing president Katsuaki Watanabe’s leadership, Toyota lost nearly $5 billion last fiscal year despite commencing an $8.22 billion cost-cutting campaign. Toyota lost $7.87 billion last quarter, beating out even GM for the title of biggest loser.

Such as they are. Japanese sales are set to fall below 5 million in 2009 for the first time in nearly thirty years. But even with Japan’s sales slump particularly affecting standard-sized cars, Honda moved 10,481 units of its new hybrid on the Japanese market last month. That makes it the best selling car in Japan just as Toyota brings its third-generation Prius to market. A hybrid as the best selling car? Government subsidies sure help! And with consumers in Japan clearly value-shopping their hybrids (Honda’s Insight is several thousand dollars cheaper than Prius), is it any suprise that we’ve heard rumblings of a Yaris-based hybrid? Meanwhile, German cars top Japan’s import brand sales. VW, BMW and Mercedes took the top three spots but sold fewer cars combined than the Insight.