Japan even failed to learn from Japan judging by everything I see here. Not necessarily as badly as the US mfgs did, but still. Especially for those chasing hydrogen right now and Nissan going through its thing (and I drive a Nissan kei car).
Nissan/Honda/Toyota/Subaru have the worst EVs on the market. They learned nothing lol.
Bad screens, tiny screens, bad software, uncompetitive range, bad interior, zero competitive features above the competition.
Japan is an insular society that discourages talking out against your superiors in the work environment, so this was bound to happen in the days of the aging-out boomers holding onto leadership positions. With the head start that Japan had, they should’ve produced a 1:1 Tesla in 5 years, but they didn’t. It’s been 15 years since the best cars hit the market, and now China leapfrogged Tesla to be the best like Japan did to American car makers 40 years ago.
All of this was made possible by Chinese government cash infusions and social programs to invest in car manufacturing/ecosystems. The west did that in 2010, but let the companies spend the money how they wanted (the top executives were allowed to get away with embezzling all of it. surprise!) with no stipulations, and that’s how we got to where we are today.
I mostly like the screen in my Nissan (but it’s a 2018ish one for the Japanese domestic market). The buttons for heat, etc. are still separate but, annoyingly, are flush with the panel and I have to take my eyes off the road to do anything (unlike my old '80s and '90s car where I could adjust anything by feel).
Japan is an insular society that discourages talking out against your superiors in the work environment
Since I see this come up a lot, I will say that this part is changing. Not everywhere and it’s still delicate, but it’s not like it used to be.
I want to buy an EV (unless things in Japan get worse and I have to move around the world again), but I’m not holding out hope that it will be a Japanese domestic one. It sure as hell won’t be a tesla. I’m not sure that will leave a lot when it comes time to buy. However not buying anything domestic leads to all sorts of issues when it comes to maintenance, service, and repairs.
For that, we’d need younger, educated, critical thinkers to actually vote. Usually, the three of those factors don’t exist together. I think voter turnout for youth is still like 50% or less. I know the populist far-right party got some votes recently for being good at social media, different, and offering simple solutions (most of which were “foreigner bad!”), but it didn’t seem to translate as much in the last election making it seem like more of a protest vote if anything.
Japan even failed to learn from Japan judging by everything I see here. Not necessarily as badly as the US mfgs did, but still. Especially for those chasing hydrogen right now and Nissan going through its thing (and I drive a Nissan kei car).
Nissan/Honda/Toyota/Subaru have the worst EVs on the market. They learned nothing lol.
Bad screens, tiny screens, bad software, uncompetitive range, bad interior, zero competitive features above the competition.
Japan is an insular society that discourages talking out against your superiors in the work environment, so this was bound to happen in the days of the aging-out boomers holding onto leadership positions. With the head start that Japan had, they should’ve produced a 1:1 Tesla in 5 years, but they didn’t. It’s been 15 years since the best cars hit the market, and now China leapfrogged Tesla to be the best like Japan did to American car makers 40 years ago.
All of this was made possible by Chinese government cash infusions and social programs to invest in car manufacturing/ecosystems. The west did that in 2010, but let the companies spend the money how they wanted (the top executives were allowed to get away with embezzling all of it. surprise!) with no stipulations, and that’s how we got to where we are today.
I mostly like the screen in my Nissan (but it’s a 2018ish one for the Japanese domestic market). The buttons for heat, etc. are still separate but, annoyingly, are flush with the panel and I have to take my eyes off the road to do anything (unlike my old '80s and '90s car where I could adjust anything by feel).
Since I see this come up a lot, I will say that this part is changing. Not everywhere and it’s still delicate, but it’s not like it used to be.
I want to buy an EV (unless things in Japan get worse and I have to move around the world again), but I’m not holding out hope that it will be a Japanese domestic one. It sure as hell won’t be a tesla. I’m not sure that will leave a lot when it comes time to buy. However not buying anything domestic leads to all sorts of issues when it comes to maintenance, service, and repairs.
I’m so glad, because it kills me to see Japan go so far downhill socially and economically. Tokyo should be the NYC of the far east.
For that, we’d need younger, educated, critical thinkers to actually vote. Usually, the three of those factors don’t exist together. I think voter turnout for youth is still like 50% or less. I know the populist far-right party got some votes recently for being good at social media, different, and offering simple solutions (most of which were “foreigner bad!”), but it didn’t seem to translate as much in the last election making it seem like more of a protest vote if anything.