Tesla to double Japan dealerships to 50, while China's BYD eyes 100
SOTA TANAKA
TOKYO -- Tesla plans to double the number of electric vehicle dealerships in Japan by the end of next year, while Chinese rival BYD looks to field a network of 100 dealerships.
The U.S. carmaker aims to have dealerships in 30 locations this year, up from 23 currently, then expand to 50 locations in 2026. Tesla is considering a target of 100 for later.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nikkei Asia
2 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
The final chip challenge: Can China build its own ASML?
CHENG TING-FANG, LAULY LI and SHUNSUKE TABETA In southeastern Beijing, engineers at Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., China's top chipmaker, are working around the clock to expand the output of 14-nanometer and even 7-nm chips, just a few generations behind the world's leading chipmakers. Being able to make such advanced chips at all is a major breakthrough for a company that has been laboring under a U.S. blacklisting for five years. But SMIC's mission goes beyond just making the chips. It wants to produce them entirely with Chinese equipment.
Japan Today
4 hours ago
- Japan Today
Skidding Nissan to halt production at Oppama plant in Kanagawa Prefecture
Nissan posted a net loss of 671 billion yen ($4.5 billion) last year and it has said it will cut 15 percent of its global workforce Struggling auto giant Nissan said Tuesday it will stop production at its plant at Oppama in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, at the end of its 2027 fiscal year. Nissan posted a net loss of 671 billion yen last year and it has said it will cut 15 percent of its global workforce. "The company will cease vehicle production at the Oppama plant at the end of fiscal year 2027," Nissan said in a statement. Production of the plant outside of Yokahama will be shifted to another existing factory in Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu, it said. One of Nissan's six domestic plants, Oppama employed around 3,900 people as of October 2024 and began operations in 1961, according to the company's website. It was a "pioneer in the production of advanced vehicles, such as the Nissan LEAF, the world's first mass-market electric vehicle," it said. The heavily indebted carmaker, whose mooted merger with Japanese rival Honda collapsed this year, is slashing production as part of its expensive business turnaround plan. Nissan said in May it would "consolidate its vehicle production plants from 17 to 10 by fiscal year 2027". Like many peers, Nissan is finding it difficult to compete against Chinese electric vehicle brands. The merger with Honda had been seen as a potential lifeline but talks collapsed in February when the latter proposed making Nissan a subsidiary. Nissan has faced numerous speed bumps in recent years -- including the 2018 arrest of former boss Carlos Ghosn, who later fled Japan concealed in an audio equipment box. Ratings agencies have downgraded the firm to junk, with Moody's citing its "weak profitability" and "aging model portfolio". This year Nissan shelved plans, only recently agreed, to build a $1-billion battery plant in southern Japan owing to the tough "business environment". Of Japan's major automakers, Nissan is seen as the most exposed to US President Donald Trump's 25-percent tariff imposed on imported Japanese vehicles earlier this year. This is because its clientele has historically been more price-sensitive than that of its rivals, according to experts. One potential solution for Nissan could be Taiwanese electronics behemoth Hon Hai, better known as Foxconn, which assembles iPhones and is expanding into cars. Foxconn said in February it was open to buying Renault's stake in Nissan. © 2025 AFP
Japan Today
4 hours ago
- Japan Today
Nvidia's CEO says it has U.S. approval to sell its H20 AI computer chips in China
By ELAINE KURTENBACH Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang says the technology giant has won approval from the Trump administration to sell its advanced H20 computer chips used to develop artificial intelligence to China. The news came in a company blog post late Monday and Huang also spoke about the coup on China's state-run CGTN television network in remarks shown on X. 'The U.S. government has assured Nvidia that licenses will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon,' the post said. 'Today, I'm announcing that the U.S. government has approved for us filing licenses to start shipping H20s,' Huang told reporters in Beijing. He noted that half of the world's AI researchers are in China. 'It's so innovative and dynamic here in China that it's really important that American companies are able to compete and serve the market here in China,' he said. Huang recently met with Trump and other U.S. policymakers and this week is in Beijing to attend a supply chain conference and speak with Chinese officials. The broadcast showed Huang meeting with Ren Hongbin, the head of the China Council for Promotion of International Trade, host of the China International Supply Chain Expo, which Huang was attending. Nvidia is an exhibitor. Nvidia has profited enormously from rapid adoption of AI, becoming the first company to have its market value surpass $4 trillion last week. However, the trade rivalry between the U.S. and China has been weighing heavily on the industry. Washington has been tightening controls on exports of advanced technology to China for years, citing concerns that know-how meant for civilian use could be deployed for military purposes. The emergence of China's DeepSeek AI chatbot in January renewed concerns over how China might use the advanced chips to help develop its own AI capabilities. In January, before Trump began his second term in office, the administration of President Joe Biden launched a new framework for exporting advanced computer chips used to develop artificial intelligence, an attempt to balance national security concerns about the technology with the economic interests of producers and other countries. The White House announced in April that it would restrict sales of Nvidia's H20 chips and AMD's MI308 chips to China. Nvidia had said the tighter export controls would cost the company an extra $5.5 billion, and Huang and other technology leaders have been lobbying President Donald Trump to reverse the restrictions. They argue that such limits hinder U.S. competition in a leading edge sector in one of the world's largest markets for technology. They've also warned that U.S. export controls could end up pushing other countries toward China's AI technology. AP researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
