The auto industry, EVs, batteries, hydrogen and next-generation mobility.
Mitsubishi is bringing the Pajero back after seven years with a plan for just 10,000 units. The shares moved anyway. What a nameplate is worth to a carmaker that sold 797,000 vehicles last year.
Prelude, Supra, Primera, Pajero: Japanese carmakers keep reviving retired nameplates. Four forces explain it, from trademark law and the EV-era heritage premium to a 1988 US import rule still moving prices in Japan.
At a July 28, 2026 briefing, Kawasaki said its four-legged CORLEO has no steering or brakes planned. Force sensors in the stirrups become the controls, NVIDIA physics engines build a virtual off-road course, and the rider becomes part of the machine.
Japan's first Formula E night race had Nissan racing as a works team and Yamaha building the powertrain inside another team's car. Those roles are converging.
Tier IV, the company behind open-source self-driving stack Autoware, listed in Tokyo on July 22, 2026 and opened 7% below its offer price. How do you monetize software you give away?
On June 24, 2026, the UN's WP.29 forum adopted the first international standard covering Level 3 and Level 4 automated driving systems, with Japan serving as a co-chair. It takes effect around January 2027. Here is what the rules actually require, how much Japan really led, and why the US and China are not bound by them.
Kuroda Precision holds about 30% of the global market for EV drive motor-core dies. The 100-year-old firm now bets on amorphous alloy and cobalt-heavy permendur, and on a supply chain shaped by geopolitics.
Bridgestone's airless AirFree tire is now in permanent service on an autonomous shuttle in Higashiomi, Shiga, a national first. How its puncture-proof resin-spoke design works, why driverless and MaaS fleets need it, how it contrasts with Michelin's Uptis strategy, and whether it's really Moon-bound.
PMs Takaichi and Modi agreed on July 2, 2026 to turn cow dung into vehicle fuel and build a 2.5-million CNG-car market in India, a clean-energy deal that doubles as a hedge against China's grip on electric cars.
Toyota and America's Joby Aviation are setting up a California joint venture to mass-produce eVTOL air taxis, with Toyota holding 51% and Joby 49%. Now that the flying is largely solved, the race hinges on whether anyone can build these aircraft cheaply and at scale. Here is why Toyota's production system is the bet, how China pulled ahead, and why Europe's pure-play startups collapsed.
Japan's SKYDRIVE eVTOL flew stably at 100 km/h, a speed that sounds modest but marks a key step toward type certification. We unpack why a compact, wingless multirotor is a deliberate bet, and how Japan stacks up against China's already-flying EHang and US rivals Joby and Archer.