Toyota's Gloomy New Forecast Cuts Annual Profits by More than Half

After losing the top spot as the world's largest automaker, Toyota is now halving its profit forecast due to a number of factors, the most important of which are the production disruptions caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March and the recent floods in Thailand, as well as the strong yen.

Toyota said that it expects to bring in a net profit of 180 billion Yen [US$2.3 billion] for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, down 53.8 percent from the 390 billion yen [US$5.04 billion] it projected in August.

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Taiwan's Luxgen Launches its First Sedan Model, the Luxgen5 [Videos and Gallery]

Mazda isn't the only automaker to use its name as a designation for its model series. Taiwan's aspiring new automotive brand Luxgen has adopted the same nomenclature for its range of models that has now been expanded with its first ever four-door sedan, the Luxgen5 that joins the Luxgen7 MPV and Luxgen7 SUV.

The newly revealed Luxgen5 is the production version of the Neora EV concept study that was exhibited at the Auto Shanghai 2011 in China earlier this year.

The Taiwanese automaker says it is targeting the medium-large sedan market with the new Luxgen5 that will make its world premiere at the 2012 Taipei Auto Show next April.

According to Luxgen, the four-door model has been created for global markets in mind since its inception. The chassis has been designed with the support of US engineering analysts Altair, while the car was tested by UK safety organization Mira to meet the chassis configuration requirements of local and overseas markets.

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New Mitsubishi Mirage is a No Frills - Low Cost Entry in the Small Car Segment

You'd think that with the rise of the Korean auto industry, a troubled Japanese carmaker like Mitsubishi would up its game and even take some risks to gain a competitive edge.

Instead, Mitsubishi goes and creates the Mirage – quite possibly, the most bland looking city car in the market today…

But perhaps that was Mitsubishi's plan all along […] as the company claims that the design of the small subcompact model "was focused on compactness, affordability, and high fuel efficiency in order to fit the needs of emerging markets as an affordable entry-level model as well as needs of advanced markets for fuel efficiency and low-CO2 emission."

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Just Some Drifting Fun at the Local Parking Lot [Video]

Skilled drivers with a certain amount of experience behind the wheel don't need a lot of space to have some fun with their cars - and without getting into the same trouble as the owner of this white Corvette C6...

The video that follows after the break was shot in Taiwan and it shows a couple of dozen local drivers with their modded cars practicing their drifting skills on a relatively small parking lot marked with cones.

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