DETROIT (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) unveiled three Acura models at the Detroit auto show on Monday including an entry-level sedan and an NSX supercar as it aims to put the struggling premium brand back on the map in the crowded U.S. luxury market.

The 25-year-old Acura brand is in bad need of a makeover after sales in its main U.S. market have dwindled to less than 60 percent of their peak of nearly 210,000 vehicles in 2005. Last year, sales fell 7.7 percent to 123,299 vehicles, albeit partly due to supply constraints from the March 11 disasters in Japan.

DETROIT (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research) is looking to put a year of unprecedented difficulties behind it and boost sales in the United States, its biggest market, by a quarter in 2012, executives said on Monday.

Japan’s No. 3 automaker suffered big disruptions to its supply chain both from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami at home and the historic floods in Thailand, leading to a plunge in production, sales and inventory in many markets.

DETROIT (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) unveiled three Acura models at the Detroit auto show on Monday including an entry-level sedan and the NSX supercar as it aims to put the struggling premium brand back on the map in the crowded U.S. luxury market.

The 25-year-old Acura brand is in bad need of a makeover after sales in its main U.S. market have dwindled to less than 60 percent of their peak of nearly 210,000 vehicles in 2005. Last year, sales fell 7.7 percent to 123,299 vehicles, albeit partly due to supply constraints from the March 11 disasters in Japan.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese carmaker Toyota Motor (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) forecast a 20 percent jump in 2012 sales to a record 8.48 million vehicles, as it recovers from output losses caused by natural disasters in Japan and Thailand this year.

Toyota, the world’s top carmaker since 2008, is set to lose its crown to U.S. rival General Motors (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) after supply-chain disruptions from the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan and flooding in Thailand hit production around the world.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp forecast a 20 percent jump in global sales to a record 8.48 million vehicles next year as it claws back from this year’s output losses caused by natural disasters in Japan and Thailand.

Toyota overtook General Motors Co as the world’s top-selling automaker in 2008, but is set to lose that crown this year as supply-chain disruptions from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and deadly floods in Thailand cut production around the world.

TOKYO, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Japan’s auto industry body
welcomed the government’s plan to extend incentives on the
purchase of greener cars on Thursday but repeated its demand to
abolish two vehicle-specific taxes that it says is hurting
demand.

In addition to the universal 5 percent consumption tax on
all goods and services, Japan imposes a vehicle weight tax and
acquisition tax that make car ownership disproportionately
costly in Japan compared with the rest of the world.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota, set to lose its crown as the world’s top-selling automaker this year, more than halved its annual profit forecast to $2.6 billion, reeling from a strong yen and Thai floods that severed its supply lines.

Toyota Motor Corp’s (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) inability to make enough cars – production was also ruptured by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March – is expected to see it overtaken in sales this year by General Motors Co (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and probably Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE: Quote, Profile, Research).

TOKYO, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp cut its
profit forecast for this business year by more than half on
Friday after it was hit by a stronger yen and widespread output
disruptions due to Thailand’s floods.

Japan’s top automaker said it expects an operating profit of
200 billion yen ($2.6 billion) in the year to March 31, 2012,
down 57 percent from last year and well below a consensus
forecast of 419 billion yen in a survey of 23 analysts by
Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Blinded by the runaway success of the Prius, Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) mothballed the costly development of new diesel engines and bet the farm on hybrids taking off in Europe, a mistake that has since come back to haunt it.

Bitter rival Nissan Motor Co (7201.T: Quote, Profile, Research) is on course to leapfrog Toyota as the best-selling Asian brand in Europe come March, should this year’s sales trend continue, with Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) not far behind.

TOKYO/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp and BMW AG agreed on Thursday to join hands on a broad range of environmental technologies, forging a partnership between two engineering stalwarts in the increasingly competitive auto industry.

Under the agreement, the two will work together on lithium-ion battery research that is seen as key to electric cars, while the German premium brand will also supply 1.6 and 2.0 liter diesel engines to Toyota from 2014 in Europe. They will also identify possibilities for other projects.