BEIJING, April 23 (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co on
Monday unveiled two concept cars developed for China and
announced plans to build two new plants there to assemble cars
and engines, in an attempt to catch up with its rivals in
product offerings in the world’s largest car market.

Honda unveiled the Concept C and Concept S, developed for
the Chinese market, that will be the base for two new models to
be produced and sold next year with partner Dongfeng Motor Group
. The Concept S people mover was developed with China
as its main target market, but with a view to selling it
globally, Honda said.

TOKYO, April 20 (Reuters) – Nissan Motor Co Ltd
said on Friday that it will start building vehicles under its
premium Infiniti brand in China from 2014 as Japan’s No.2
automaker aims to challenge the dominance of German rivals in
the world’s largest car market.

The move to produce Infiniti models in China, where tariffs
of 25 percent put imported vehicles at a disadvantage, should
put Nissan on a better footing to compete with market leaders
Audi AG, Mercedes Benz maker Daimler AG and
BMW AG all produce locally.

TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) – Japanese automakers are expected to show a big improvement in quarterly profits as they ramp up production held down last year by disasters at home and in Thailand, setting the stage for a convincing recovery in the year ahead.

South Korean rivals Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Motors Corp, are also expected to post solid earnings for the January-to-March quarter, defying concerns about competition from resurgent Japanese automakers thanks to better-than-anticipated sales overseas.

TOKYO/SEOUL, April 20 (Reuters) – Japanese automakers are
expected to show a big improvement in quarterly profits as they
ramp up production held down last year by disasters at home and
in Thailand, setting the stage for a convincing recovery in the
year ahead.

South Korean rivals Hyundai Motor Co and Kia
Motors Corp, are also expected to post solid
earnings for the January-to-March quarter, defying concerns
about competition from resurgent Japanese automakers thanks to
better-than-anticipated sales overseas.

TOYOTA CITY, Japan, April 9 (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp
unveiled on Monday a new framework for vehicle
development aimed at making its cars more appealing, while
cutting costs by at least 30 percent through the use of more
shared parts.

Since taking the helm three years ago, Chief Executive Akio
Toyoda has sought to steer Toyota’s focus back to making better
products, blaming unchecked sales growth in the run-up to the
financial crisis for its penchant for building popular but
unexciting cars.

TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) – New car sales in Japan surged in March from a disaster-hit low last year, while global sales for South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co also grew as brisk overseas sales made up for a sharp drop at home.

Sales of new cars, trucks and buses excluding 660cc minivehicles jumped 78 percent to 497,959 vehicles in Japan, marking the biggest monthly gain on record, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said on Monday. Minivehicle sales increased 60.5 percent to 253,929.

TOKYO/SEOUL, April 2 (Reuters) – New car sales in Japan
surged in March from a disaster-hit low last year, while global
sales for South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co also grew as brisk
overseas sales made up for a sharp drop at home.

Sales of new cars, trucks and buses excluding 660cc
minivehicles jumped 78 percent to 497,959 vehicles in Japan,
marking the biggest monthly gain on record, the Japan Automobile
Dealers Association said on Monday. Minivehicle sales increased
60.5 percent to 253,929.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has no intention of offering ultra-cheap cars to boost sales in emerging markets and will keep its focus on customers who expect a certain level of reliability, the company’s president, Akio Toyoda, said on Thursday.

Toyoda’s comments come days after rival Nissan Motor (7201.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) announced the revival of the Datsun brand to target buyers in the lowest and sizeable end of developing markets, while a German magazine reported Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) was also planning a similar move.

YOKOHAMA, Japan, March 21 (Reuters) – Nissan Motor Co
is counting on its heritage Datsun brand to attract a
vast pool of first-time car buyers in emerging markets as it
aims to grab an 8 percent share of the global market by 2016,
executives said on Wednesday.

Japan’s No.2 automaker announced a day earlier the revival
of the 80-year-old Datsun nameplate for entry-level cars
starting in India, Indonesia and Russia from 2014, after it was
ditched in 1981 to consolidate all cars under the Nissan brand.

KANEGASAKI, Japan, March 9 (Reuters) – At this
19-year-old Toyota factory in Kanegasaki, 500 km (300 miles)
north of Tokyo, one shiny Aqua hybrid car rolls off the assembly
line every 75 seconds, 17 hours a day.

With 120,000 orders to fill from just the first month of
sales since late December — equivalent to 10 months’ worth of
targeted sales in Japan — the frantic pace will only quicken in
the coming months.