TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Toshiba Corp cut its full-year operating profit forecast by 13 percent to 260 billion yen on Wednesday, saying the uncertain global economy weighed on its prospects.

The company said the continuing European debt crisis, slowdowns in China and India, and a strong yen were combining to “increase uncertainty about the future.”

TOKYO, Oct 31 (Reuters) – Japan’s Toshiba Corp cut
its full-year group operating profit forecast to 260.00 billion
yen ($3.27 billion) on Wednesday from its previous outlook of
300 billion yen, saying the uncertain global economy weighed on
its prospects.

The company said the continuing European debt crisis,
slowdowns in China and India, and a strong yen were combining to
“increase uncertainty about the future.”

TOKYO/BEIJING, Oct 30 (Reuters) – Heavy equipment makers are
pinning their hopes on a stimulus fuelled rebound in China in
2013, after suffering another bruising quarter as the global
economy slowed faster than expected with little respite seen
before the end of the year.

Japanese excavator maker Komatsu Ltd said on
Tuesday it saw demand in China for construction and mining
equipment falling 40 percent in the last three months of 2012, a
day after Chinese rival Sany Heavy Industry Co Ltd
reported a near-60 percent slump in third quarter profits.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research) cut its full-year net profit forecast by a fifth after sales in China were hit by a popular backlash against Japanese goods, and warned it could be February before business in the world’s biggest autos market returns to normal.

The cut, prompted by a slump in sales amid often violent protests in a dispute about ownership of islands in the East China Sea, makes it likely that bigger Japanese rival Nissan Motor (7201.T: Quote, Profile, Research), and possibly Toyota Motor (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research), will follow suit when they report quarterly earnings early next week.

TOKYO, Oct 29 (Reuters) – Japan’s Honda Motor Co
cut its full-year net profit forecast by a fifth after sales in
China, the world’s biggest autos market, were hit by a popular
backlash against Japanese products last month in a dispute over
East China Sea islands.

Honda cut its net profit forecast for the year to March to
375 billion yen ($4.7 billion) from its earlier estimate of 470
billion yen.

YOKOSUKA, Japan, Oct 17 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nissan Motor Co
plans to equip some of its luxury cars with a system to
control steering electronically, rather than mechanically, the
first time so-called “steer-by-wire” technology will be used in
mass-produced vehicles.

The new technology will be introduced in some models of the
Infiniti brand within a year, Nissan said at a briefing, paving
the way for cars that could one day be steered by joysticks and
be programmed to avoid crashes automatically.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said it would recall more than 7.4 million vehicles worldwide for faulty power window switches that are a potential fire hazard, the latest in a series of setbacks that have dented the reputation of Japan’s biggest automaker.

The voluntary move is the biggest single recall since Ford pulled 8 million vehicles off the road in 1996 to replace defective ignition switches that could have caused engine fires.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) announced a massive recall on Wednesday to fix malfunctioning power window switches, saying it will pull back 7.43 million vehicles worldwide in the biggest single recall since 1996, performed by Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

The move comes as Japan’s biggest automaker tries to rebuild trust after a series of recalls between 2009 and 2011 in which it pulled back around 10 million vehicles, and as it struggles with plummeting Chinese sales as a result of a Sino-Japanese territorial dispute.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) announced a massive recall on Wednesday to fix malfunctioning power window switches, saying it will pull back 7.43 million vehicles worldwide in the biggest single recall since 1996, performed by Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

The move comes as Japan’s biggest automaker tries to rebuild trust after a series of recalls between 2009 and 2011 in which it pulled back around 10 million vehicles, and as it struggles with plummeting Chinese sales as a result of a Sino-Japanese territorial dispute.

BEIJING/TOKYO, Oct 9 (Reuters) – Japanese car makers
reported tumbling sales in China for September – with Toyota’s
almost halving – confirming the impact of a territorial row
between the two countries and raising concerns about their
future in the world’s biggest auto market.

Violent protests and calls for boycotts of Japanese products
broke out across China in mid-September after Japan nationalized
two of the East China Sea islands, known as the Diaoyu in
Chinese and the Senkaku in Japanese, by purchasing then from
their private owners.