A precious metals shortage is pushing Nissan to rent, not sell, electric vehicles to customers
fortune.com -- Aug 04
The circular economy is coming to electric vehicles for both environmental and financial reasons, as a leading Japanese automaker plans on starting a rental scheme for its battery-powered cars.
Drivers interested in making the switch to electric will soon have another option to do so in Japan, as Nissan—manufacturer of the Nissan Leaf, one of the earliest and bestselling electric cars on the market—is preparing to launch a new rental plan for its EVs, the Financial Times reports.
Nissan’s initiatives will operate as a subscription scheme.
Customers will sign up on a monthly basis, but Nissan hopes that they will rent electric cars for years before returning them, according to the FT.
The service will be exclusively available to Japanese customers.
The initiative will make it easier for Nissan to keep its electric cars inside the country, where the batteries can be reused. ...continue reading

NHK - Sep 23
A survey by a private research firm in Japan has found an increasing number of listed companies are severing ties with talent agency Johnny & Associates over reported sex abuse by its late founder.

NHK - Sep 22
Policymakers at the Bank of Japan have decided to leave the central bank's easing program unchanged as they wrapped up their two-day meeting on Friday.

Nikkei - Sep 21
Nippon Television Holdings will acquire Studio Ghibli -- the globally acclaimed anime house known for smash hits like "Spirited Away" and director Hayao Miyazaki -- through subsidiary Nippon TV, the company announced on Thursday.

CNN - Sep 21
Toshiba said on Thursday that a $14 billion tender offer from private equity firm Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) had ended in success — a deal which paves the way for the embattled industrial conglomerate to go private.

News On Japan - Sep 21
Japan McDonald's will reduce the frequency of delivering ingredients and supplies from its logistics warehouses to its stores by 20% starting next month.

The National - Sep 20
Judicial hearings on the $1 billion lawsuit that Carlos Ghosn has filed against Nissan, the auto company he used to head, have begun, with lawyers from both sides meeting the judge charged with overseeing the case in Beirut.

NHK - Sep 20
Average land prices in Japan have risen for a second straight year. Reinvigorated social and economic activity spurred by easing pandemic concern drove the increase.

Kyodo - Sep 20
SoftBank Group Corp said Tuesday that it will receive $5.12 billion in proceeds from the initial public offering of Arm Holdings Plc, a British chip designer under the Japanese conglomerate, by the end of September.

NHK - Sep 19
China's imports of Japanese seafood fell by two-thirds in August from the same month last year, as Beijing halted all such imports following the release of treated and diluted water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Japanalysis - Sep 19
What happens when an egotistical trust fund baby becomes Vice President of his dad's $1B company? Watch and find out. BIG MOTOR!

Bloomberg - Sep 19
Richard Yetsenga, chief economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., discusses policies of central banks including the People's Bank of China and the Bank of Japan.

Bloomberg - Sep 18
The mood in Japan has changed and the deflationary times we’ve experienced for so long that people are more optimistic than before.”

East Asia Forum - Sep 16
Japan's dairy farmers are facing a tough financial situation. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), the number of dairy farmers in the country declined by 5.3 per cent - faster than the average rate of 4 per cent - over the past 10 years.

Reuters - Sep 15
Shares in SoftBank's Arm Holdings (ARM.O) soared almost 25% above their offer price in their Nasdaq debut on Thursday, valuing the British chip designer at $65 billion in its return to the public markets after seven years.

NHK - Sep 15
Mazda Motor has started taking orders from its customers in Japan of a plug-in hybrid version of the MX-30, which uses a rotary engine.

News On Japan - Sep 13
Convenience store giant Seven-Eleven has removed toothpicks from its disposable chopstick wrappers.