U.S. News & World Report - Behold the Ford Fiesta. The newest addition to Ford's fleet is cute and perky, with solid handling and gas mileage that will make greeniacs grin. Japanese automakers have been building quality subcompacts for years, and while vehicles like the Honda Fit, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, and Nissan Versa typically earn strong reviews, they don't usually mark a crowning corporate achievement.

A woman walks past Nissan Motor Co's March cars at the company's headquarters in Yokohama, south of Tokyo July 29, 2010. REUTERS/Toru HanaiReuters - Honda Motor Co and Renault joined their rivals in reporting strong results for the quarter to the end of June, as the auto industry faces growing concerns over slowing demand in the United States, China and Europe.


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TOKYO/BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT, France (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co raised its full-year forecasts after posting a record quarterly net profit on Friday, while brisk sales returned France's Renault to profit in the first half.


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AP - Honda's quarterly profit ballooned to a record $3.2 billion while Mazda reduced its losses, rounding out a tale of recovery among Japanese automakers.
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In this April 28, 2010 photo, visitors look at Honda Civic Type R at a Honda Motor Corp. showroom in Tokyo. Honda reported Friday, July 30, 2010 a record quarterly profit of 272.4 billion yen ($3.2 billion) as auto sales grew in North America, Japan and the rest of Asia. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)AP - Honda's quarterly profit ballooned to a record 272.4 billion yen ($3.2 billion) and the carmaker raised its full year earnings forecast as sales grew in North America, Japan and the rest of Asia.


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Tim Tucker, chief executive of Ford Japan, Ford Motor Co.'s Japan operations, poses with the Kuga sport-utility vehicle, one of five models Ford plans to introduce in Japan from this fall through 2012, during a press conference in Tokyo Friday, July 23, 2010. Ford is investing in Asia with hopes of dramatically boosting sales in Japan — a market so dominated by local makers like Toyota and Honda the U.S. automaker has long stumbled. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)AP - Ford hopes its investments in Asia will dramatically boost sales in Japan — a market so dominated by local makers like Toyota and Honda that the U.S. automaker has long struggled to maintain a toehold.


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Honda Motor Co. President Takanobu Ito reacts at the start of a press conference in Wako near Tokyo Tuesday, July 20, 2010. Ito said Honda will start selling an electric vehicle as well as a plug-in hybrid in 2012 in the U.S. and Japan, joining the race to manufacture green cars in which rivals have already taken slight leads. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)AP - Honda will start selling an electric vehicle as well as a plug-in hybrid in 2012 in the U.S. and Japan, joining the race to manufacture green cars in which rivals have already taken slight leads.


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FILE - In this Aug. 26, 2007 file photo, a long row of unsold 2007 PT Cruisers sit on the lot of a Chrysler-Jeep dealership in the east Denver suburb of Aurora, Colo. Chrysler ended production of the PT Cruiser Friday, July 9, 2010, a decade after the retro-styled wagon roared onto the road with its trend-setting looks and Al Capone swagger. Chrysler could barely keep up with demand in 2001, the vehicle's peak year, when it sold 144,717. But it's been in a slow decline for years; the company sold just 17,941 PT Cruisers last year. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)AP - A decade ago, the PT Cruiser roared onto the road with trendsetting looks and Al Capone swagger. In a sea of bland Honda Civics and Toyota Camrys, it was a retro hit. Chrysler could barely keep up with demand.


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FILE - In this file photo taken Monday June 7, 2010, workers at Foshan Fengfu Autoparts Co. a supply factory to Honda Motor's joint-ventures in China, raise their hands as they strike to demand for higher wages in Foshan in south China's Guangdong province. When workers at a Honda transmission plant in China decided to go on strike for higher wages in mid-May, they succeeded in touching off a domino effect of high-profile labor disputes. (AP Photo, file) ** CHINA OUT **AP - When workers at a Honda transmission plant in China went on strike for higher wages last month, they touched off a domino effect of high-profile labor disputes.


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In this photo taken Tuesday, June 22, 2010, workers take part in a strike at the Denso Corp., a Japanese car parts supplier to Toyota Motor Corp., in Guangzhou in south China's Guangdong province. Toyota said production at the one of its main factories in China remained halted Wednesday because of a strike at the supplier, the latest Chinese labor action to hit the Japanese carmaker in recent weeks. (AP Photo)  CHINA OUTAP - Toyota Motor Corp. said production at one of its main factories in China remained suspended Thursday due to a strike, while Honda Motor Co. resumed operations at a car assembly plant there following the end of a labor dispute.