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Japan may aid carmakers facing U.S. tariff threat

TOKYO — Japan is considering giving carmakers fiscal support including tax breaks to offset the impact from trade frictions with the United States and a sales-tax hike planned for next year, government sources told Reuters on Wednesday. Going into a second round of trade talks with the United States on Sept. 21, Japan is hoping to avert steep tariffs on its car exports and fend off U.S. demands for a bilateral free trade agreement that could put it under pressure to open politically sensitive markets, like agriculture. "If the trade talks pile pressure on Japan's car exports, we would need to consider measures to support the auto industry," a ruling party official said on condition of anonymity because of sensitivity of the matter. The auto industry accounts for about 20 percent of Japan's overall output and around 60-70 percent of the country's trade surplus with the United States, making it vulnerable to U.S. action against Japanese exports. Japan's biggest automakers and components suppliers fear they could take a significant hit if Washington follows through on proposals to hike tariffs on autos and auto parts to 25 percent. Policymakers also worry that an increase in the sales tax from 8 percent to 10 percent planned for October 2019, could cause a slump in sales of big-ticket items such as cars and home. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has twice postponed the tax hike after the last increase from 5 percent in 2014 dealt a blow to private consumption, which accounts for about 60 percent of the economy. To prevent a pullback in demand after the tax hike, the government may consider large fiscal spending later when it draws up its budget for next year, government sources said. "One option may be to greatly reduce or abolish the automobile purchase tax," one of the government sources said. The government is also considering cuts in the automobile tax and automobile weight tax to help car buyers, the source added. Reporting by Izumi Nakagawa and Tetsushi KajimotoRelated Video: Image Credit: Getty Government/Legal Isuzu Mazda Mitsubishi Nissan Subaru Suzuki Toyota Trump Trump tariffs trade

Suzuki offers sneak peek at Authentics concept for Shanghai

Suzuki has prepared the C-segment Authentics concept for the Shanghai Motor Show, a preview of a sedan that would slot into the fattest chunk of the market among China's car buyers. Suzuki hasn't given away much, saying only that it is "Sporty x Elegant" and that it's long and low and has a "rich and fine curved surface."
PaulTan.org says this is the trunked version of the SX4 crossover, and if that's the case then it would represent a new approach to the SX4 in the region, offering markedly different styling instead of being, literally, an SX4 with a trunk. We'll know more when the Shanghai show opens in a couple of weeks, for now there's a press release with a tad more info on Suzuki's plans just below.

Future Classic: 1996-1998 Suzuki X-90

SUVs are absolute cash cows, and because of that, automakers don’t often take risks in their design and execution. Oh, sure, the occasional Evoque Coupe or Murano CrossCabriolet slips through the cracks, but by and large most SUVs have four doors, two or three rows of seats and a hatchback for your cargo. But in the 1990s, carmakers were still experimenting with SUVs, so things occasionally got weird, and nothing embodied weirdness quite like the Suzuki X-90. Half SUV, half coupe, half roadster (three halves – see, super weird), the X-90 was all about fun in the sun. It was wild and had lots of personality. SuzukiÂ’s liÂ’l guy was unlike anything else on the road. Why is the Suzuki X-90 a future classic? The X-90 was SuzukiÂ’s followup to the ill-fated Samurai – you know, the SUV that was “easier to flip than a toilet seat,” according to reports from the time. The X-90 was much safer, with standard features like driver and passenger airbags, as well as antilock brakes, but it still fully embodied the SamuraiÂ’s have-fun-anywhere ethos. “Cute utes” were a growing subset of small SUVs in the ‘90s, and wow did the X-90 fully lean into this demeanor. It was tiny – only slightly longer and taller than a modern Fiat 500 – with two doors, two seats, a removable T-top roof and a sedan-like trunk with a spoiler for added flourish. Its 6.3 inches of ground clearance gave it a tiny-tough trucky stance, and you could get it in vibrant colors like purple and teal. It even had seat fabric that looked like ‘90s jazz cups. So cool. What is the ideal example of the Suzuki X-90? Since it was a low-volume product that was only sold for a couple of years (adding to its scarcity today), there werenÂ’t many differences between the X-90s that came to the U.S. All of ‘em were powered by a 1.6-liter inline-four engine with a blistering 95 horsepower and 98 pound-feet of torque. Buyers could choose between rear- and four-wheel drive, as well as a four-speed automatic or five-speed manual transmission. Going for the stick-shift gave you a slight edge on fuel economy, with the EPA rating both RWD and 4WD X-90s at 24 mpg combined, compared to 22 mpg with the automatic. Considering its core mission was all about having a whale of a time, the smartest way to spec an X-90 is with the five-speed manual and four-wheel drive.