Chevy Volt Sales Close to 50% up in October, Outsells Nissan Leaf for the First Time

So far, Nissan’s all-electric Leaf has been the winner in the battle with the Volt extended-range hybrid, clearly outselling Chevy’s offering for the first half of 2011.

But not anymore: for the first time since the two models went on sale, GM announced that it sold 1,108 units in October, an increase of almost 50% over September’s 723 sales.

This is the first time Chevy’s hybrid outsold its main rival in the U.S. market, the Nissan Leaf, which last month sold 849 units compared to September’s figure of 1,031 deliveries.

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Nissan Juke-R Part V: Fitting the GT-R's Gearbox and AWD Drivetrain

In the fifth installment of the Nissan Juke-R video series, the Japanese automaker gives us an insight into the problems that arose while trying to fit the GT-R's gearbox and all-wheel drive system into the small crossover.

The most significant challenge had to do with the Juke-R's wheelbase that is 250mm shorter than the GT-R's.

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Renault Unveils Micra-Based Pulse Supermini for the Indian Market

Caterham wasn’t the only carmaker to take advantage of the inaugural Indian F1 Grand Prix to get the pundit’s attention; renault did the same, with COO Carlos Tavares lifting the wraps off the French brand's new Pulse supermini on October 29.

The Pulse will be built locally at the Renault-Nissan Alliance's plant at Chennai and is the third model the French carmaker has introduced this year in India.

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Video: Stillen R35 GT-R Races Helicopter in New Zealand

On the second day of the Targa New Zealand race, competitors and viewers alike witnessed a rather unusual spectacle: a sports car racing against a helicopter.

The vehicle in question was a Stillen R-35 Nissan GT-R driven by Steve Millen while acrobatic racing pilot, Leigh Hopper, controlled the Eurocopter “Squirrel”.

Now, this isn't the first time a sports car has lined up against a flying machine. But this spontaneous road-and-sky-racing during a pit stop was unexpected – especially as they made two runs instead of one.

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Nissan Infographic Tells the Tale of NYC Taxis by the Numbers

On Tuesday, New Yorkers will get their first taste of the Big Apple's new taxicab, the Nissan NV200 minivan, at a special exhibition that takes place from November 1 to 5 on the pedestrian plaza across from the Flatiron building at Broadway and Fifth Avenue.

We'll remind you that the NV200 was selected as the exclusive cab of New York City for the next 10 years, starting from late 2013.

Today, Nissan organized a special event for a host of New York City officials, including Taxi & Limousine Commissioner David Yassky, to preview the vehicle's interior design.

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Nissan Launches Stripped Out 370Z NISMO RC Racer Ready for the Track

Ferrari and other luxury sports car makers aren't the only ones to offer race-spec variants of their series production models. Joining the club is Nissan with its newly revealed 370Z NISMO RC that is now available for customer orders.

The Japanese firm's track-ready racer is based on the street-legal 370Z NISMO but has undergone an extreme diet dropping the production model's luxury amenities. As a result, Nissan Motorsport engineers managed to shave more than 350 pounds off the 370Z NISMO RC, which tips the scales at just 2,954 lbs (1,339kg).

In addition to the crash diet, Nissan Motorsport also added numerous NISMO performance upgrades such as a race-spec exhaust system, a tuned ECM, a high capacity clutch, flywheel, engine oil, transmission and differential coolers.

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New Nissan Juke-R Video Reveals that the 3.8-Liter V6 Delivers 480-horses

Nissan is sure taking its time to reveal all the juicy details surrounding its wacky Juke-R project.

After releasing the first picture of the finished product earlier this week, on Wednesday, the Japanese automaker published a new batch of images and a video shot during the fitting of the Nissan GT-R's 3.8-liter turbocharged V6 engine.

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Nissan to Show New Yorkers NV200 Taxi of Tomorrow in November

Back in May this year, Michael R. Bloomberg announced that the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) selected the Nissan NV200 minivan as the exclusive cab of New York City for the next 10 years, beginning in late 2013.

Now, the public as well as taxi owners will be able to see and feel the Nissan NV200 Taxi in person almost a year before it enters service, at the Nissan Taxi of Tomorrow Design Expo, which takes place from November 1 to 5 on the pedestrian plaza across from the Flatiron building at Broadway and Fifth Avenue.

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Nissan Shows the Juke-R in the Flesh for the First Time

Nissan surprised an unwary audience at an unrelated crossover media launch in Malaga, Spain, with the reveal of the first finished prototype of the Juke-R concept in the metal.

The Japanese company plans to build two examples of the Juke-R in left- and right-hand drive. The prototype shown in Spain was the left-hand drive model.

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Carlos Ghosn Says 2012 will be a Record Sales Year, Bets Heavily on EVs

Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn is upbeat about the way the automotive industry is heading, despite the fact that the economic crisis that threatens Europe is far from over.

In fact, during the recent launch of the electric versions of theRenault Fluence and Kangoo in Portugal last Friday, Ghosn predicted that 2012 will be a record year for car sales worldwide surpassing 2011's volumes.

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Nissan Shows how the GT-R-Powered Juke R is Being Built on Film

The first Nissan Juke-R prototype will likely make its public debut in final form at the forthcoming Tokyo Motor Show in December, but until then, the Japanese company is giving viewers a behind the scenes look at the process that went into building the Godzilla crossover. Read more »

Nissan Develops New Hybrid System with a 2.5-liter Supercharged Engine for FWD Cars

Not to be outdone by its Japanese and European rivals, Nissan has developed a new hybrid system for front-wheel drive vehicles, the first details of which were released today along with the announcement of its next generation XTRONIC CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) for use with 2.0-liter to 3.5-liter engines.

Nissan came a bit late to the hybrid game and was forced to license hybrid technology from its Toyota rival for use in certain markets in 2004.

“It was a bit of a blow to our pride, but that was the right thing to do under the circumstances,” says Mitsunobu Fukuda, a senior powertrain engineer at NATC (Nissan Advanced Technology Center).

“Instead of rushing out a ‘copy-cat’ hybrid we wanted to take the time to develop our own hybrid, one that is clearly different – and better. I think we’ve managed to do that.”

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Nissan Drops Price of LEAF Home Charging System to $1,818

Good news for American customers interested in acquiring Nissan's pure-electric LEAF hatchback with a home charging system as the Japanese company announced today a noteworthy price drop.

When Nissan released pricing for the LEAF in 2010, the home charging system, developed by AeroVironment, carried an MSRP of US$2,200. Now it is available at a cost of US$1,818, including hardware and installation services for or a typical home fitting.

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Nissan Publishes New Video on Juke GT-R Project

Slowly, but steadily, Nissan is releasing more information and visual material on its crazy Juke-R design project that bonds together the body of the small crossover with the mechanical hardware of the GT-R sports car.

The second consecutive video tells us about the key technologies that are being transferred from the GT-R to the Juke including the electronics, the engine and the drivetrain.

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Japanese Carmakers' Production Back on Track, But it May not be Enough

For the first time after the March 11 earthquake and Tsunami, Japanese automakers have returned to their normal production levels. In fact, they are superseding last year’s numbers in an effort to make up for the lost time.

Toyota and Nissan, Japan’s two biggest car manufacturers are leading the pack, reporting increased production for the first time since March, with Mazda, Suzuki, Honda, Subaru and Mitsubishi following their lead.

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Toyota Warns Suppliers to Lower their Prices, or Else…

The strong yen is harming the profitability of Japanese carmakers. After Honda, which plans to halve its domestic production over the next decade, Toyota, Japan’s number one automaker, told its parts suppliers to severely reduce their prices or risk being replaced by overseas manufacturers. Read more »

2012 Nissan 370Z gains Standard Oil Cooler, Base Manual Model Dropped from Roadster Range

Having entered the final quarter of 2011, automakers are ushering in their new model year lineups, though most of the times, there's nothing really "new" about the cars other than the different designations.

That's more or less the case with the 2012 Nissan 370Z series. The only changes for the new model year concern the addition of an oil-cooler as standard on both body styles, while Nissan eliminated the base 370Z Roadster with the 6-speed manual, leaving the more expensive Touring model for those that want to manually change gears while enjoying the sun.

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Time-Waster of the Day: Nissan Europe Launches New 3D Juke Site

The Juke has seen its fair share of publicity, mostly due to its unusual shape and the fact that it is Nissan’s first entry in the small crossover segment. The most recent stunt is the announcement on the development of the Juke-R with modified GT-R underpinnings.

Now Nissan has moved on to another fantasy realm: not the “what if” 530HP Juke prototype, but the virtual one. Its European division has launched Stage JUK3D, an online module that promises to give its users “an incredibly immersive experience of discovering and driving” the carmaker’s small crossover.

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Nissan Juke-R: Insane Super Crossover with 530HP GT-R Powertrain! [Video]

If you thought that the Nissan Juke's design was pushing the envelope a wee bit too far, wait until you see what the Japanese carmaker's engineers are readying. Meet the Nissan Juke-R, one of the craziest ideas we have heard in a long, long while. And yes, the 'R' in the name is what you think it is: the heart and soul of the…Godzilla!

A team over at Nissan Europe came up with the bright idea of fitting the Juke small crossover with the engine and drivetrain of the latest GT-R. The street legal prototype is currently being developed by Nissan and built by motorsports outfit RML with input from Nissan Technology Centre for Europe (NTC-E).

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