TOKYO, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Mazda Motor Corp (7261.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is aiming
to step up sales, cost cuts and other measures to offset an
additional negative impact of about 40 billion yen ($493 million)
from foreign exchange on its operating profit this business year,
its chief executive said.

CEO Takashi Yamanouchi said that with the dollar and euro
both far weaker than Mazda’s assumptions of 90 yen and 125 yen,
respectively, currencies could knock off 40 billion yen more from
operating profit this business year than the company had
initially forecast.

TOKYO, Oct 20 (Reuters) – Mazda Motor Corp (7261.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on
Wednesday its next Mazda2/Demio subcompact would get fuel economy
of 30 km/litre (70 mpg) without the help of an electric motor,
likely making it the most fuel-efficient gasoline car on the
road.

The vehicle will be launched in Japan in the first half of
2011 as the first product to be equipped with Mazda’s
next-generation gasoline and diesel engine and transmission
technology, dubbed SKYACTIV.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Mazda Motor Corp (7261.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) look set to drift further apart as the U.S. car maker plans to wind down its stake in the Japanese company, leaving Mazda freer to make decisions, but possibly in need of a new partner down the line.

Ford is set to sell most almost all of its stake in Mazda, which currently stands at 11 percent, a source told Reuters on Saturday. Trading house Sumitomo Corp (8053.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and other Japanese business partners of Mazda were in talks to buy the shares, the source said.

TOKYO, Oct 18 (Reuters) – Shares of Mazda Motor Corp (7261.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)
slipped on Monday after news at the weekend that top shareholder
Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) plans to sell almost all of its remaining
stake in the Japanese automaker it once controlled.

A source told Reuters on Saturday the U.S. automaker would
slash its ownership of Mazda to a few percent from 11 percent,
and that trading house Sumitomo Corp (8053.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and other Japanese
business partners of Mazda were in talks to buy the shares.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Yoshihiko Takahashi chuckles politely when asked if he’s weary of having the same conversation with passengers, day in and day out, as he shuttles them around Tokyo in his white-and-blue all-electric taxi.

How often do you have to recharge? How far can you go? Does this car really have no emissions?

TOKYO, Sept 28 (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it
would enter the growing Japanese minivehicle sector next year
through a supply deal with unit Daihatsu Motor Co (7262.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in a
move set to intensify competition in the tough domestic market.

Under the deal announced on Tuesday, Daihatsu would supply
three minivehicle models to its parent in stages starting in the
fall of 2011. Total sales are expected to be around 60,000 units
a year once all three models are on the market, they said.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co will overhaul its sourcing strategy by ditching its one-spec-fits-all method on global car models to better compete with Hyundai Motor and others in emerging markets, an executive said on Tuesday.

Honda, Japan’s No.2 automaker, has until now used a common blueprint for components on cars built and sold globally for efficiency’s sake, and to offer consumers around the world the same specifications for those models.

TOKYO, Sept 21 (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research) will
overhaul its sourcing strategy by ditching its one-spec-fits-all
method on global car models to better compete with Hyundai Motor
(005380.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) and others in emerging markets, an executive said on
Tuesday.

Honda, Japan’s No.2 automaker, has until now used a common
blueprint for components on cars built and sold globally for
efficiency’s sake, and to offer consumers around the world the
same specifications for those models.

TOKYO, Sept 16 (Reuters) – The head of the Japanese
automakers’ lobby said on Thursday he did not consider 85 yen per
dollar a weak enough level for the Japanese currency, calling on
authorities to keep taking decisive steps in the foreign exchange
market.

“On Aug. 9, we put out a rare statement voicing concern over
the strong yen, and that was when the dollar fell below 85 yen,”
Toshiyuki Shiga, chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers
Association (JAMA), told a regularly scheduled news conference.

TOKYO, Sept 10 (Reuters) – Yoshihiko Takahashi chuckles
politely when asked if he’s weary of having the same
conversation with passengers, day in and day out, as he shuttles
them around Tokyo in his white-and-blue all-electric taxi.
How often do you have to recharge? How far can you go? Does
this car really have no emissions?

Those are just some of the queries he’s grown used to during
a 90-day trial this year for a fleet of three zero-emission
taxis and a designated battery-switch station, in the first
undertaking of its kind in the world.