News On Japan

Suzuki Unveils Kei EV Prototype With 310-Kilometer Range

TOKYO - Suzuki has unveiled a prototype of its first kei-class electric vehicle, the e SKY, which is scheduled to go on sale during the current fiscal year with a driving range of 310 kilometers, among the longest offered by a domestically produced kei EV.

The vehicle features a large display and is equipped with a power outlet, which Suzuki says is intended to improve convenience.

Suzuki said one of the key priorities in developing the vehicle was ensuring that drivers could use it in much the same way as a conventional gasoline-powered car.

The company said the e SKY is aimed particularly at customers who are not yet familiar with electric vehicles, a positioning it believes differentiates the model from competing products.

Source: テレ東BIZ

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

A tropical depression far south of Japan is expected to develop into a typhoon as early as the night of September 15, potentially approaching Okinawa during the Silver Week holiday period before changing course and bringing heavy rain to other parts of the country.

GO, Waymo and Nihon Kotsu said they aim to launch Japan's first commercial fully driverless taxi service in Tokyo during 2027, using Level 4 autonomous vehicles that can operate without a driver on board under specified conditions.

Kajima Corp. has unveiled the construction site of KAJIMA TREE, a roughly 60-meter wooden tower being built for the International Horticultural Expo that will open in March 2027.

Climbers who get into trouble on Mount Fuji during the official closed season could be charged for rescue by disaster-prevention helicopters under new safety measures being considered by Yamanashi Prefecture.

Genta Koja, a former deputy mayor of Naha who accepts the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko in Nago, won the Okinawa gubernatorial election on September 13, defeating incumbent Governor Denny Tamaki and bringing an end to 12 years of prefectural administrations committed to blocking the project.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Business NEWS

The Osaka prefectural and municipal governments said on September 14 that they have set a minimum sale price of 92.113 billion yen for the second-phase development area on Yumeshima, the site of the Osaka-Kansai Expo.

Rising long-term interest rates in Japan and the United States are increasing pressure on households and businesses, with more than 5,600 additional small and midsize Japanese companies at risk of falling into the red if borrowing rates rise by 0.5 percentage point.

Rakuten Mobile said on September 14 that it has withdrawn a plan to forcibly cancel mobile service contracts for customers who fail to link their accounts to a Rakuten ID by the end of November.

Tokyo stocks were mixed on September 14, with the Nikkei 225 closing at 63,499, down 511.89 points, as selling in artificial intelligence and semiconductor-related shares weighed on the headline index, while the broader TOPIX rose 32.88 points to 4,061.18 on buying in value, defensive and domestic-demand shares.

Japan's major banks are intensifying competition for household money as rising interest rates revive the appeal of deposits, prompting lenders to launch new savings products, wealth-management services and point-based incentives.

Japan is facing growing pressure over its treatment and recruitment of foreign workers, with serious allegations of abuse emerging even as companies compete for a shrinking pool of overseas labor and some industries approach government-set limits on the number of workers they can accept.

Tokyo stocks fell sharply on September 11, with the Nikkei 225 closing at 63,442, down 2.8%, as oil prices above $108, renewed Middle East tensions, U.S. rate-hike fears and expectations for another Bank of Japan increase triggered a broad selloff led by artificial intelligence and semiconductor-related shares.

Japan's corporate goods prices rose 7.6% in August from a year earlier, remaining above 7% for a third consecutive month as escalating tensions in the Middle East pushed up prices for petroleum, coal and chemical products.