Japanese automobile companies' research and development spending will hit a new record high. Six major vehicle manufacturers will spend 7 percent more year-on-year to 2.887 trillion yen on developing pure electric vehicles and other projects.

Toyota Motor plans to increase R&D spending by 6% to 1.16 trillion yen, Honda Motor plans to increase R&D spending by 8% to 840 billion yen. (Nikkei)