TOYOTA

NASCAR fans are car fans, and the racing league and manufacturers like Toyota that compete in the Spring Cup Series are betting that some design tweaks can energize that fandom as well as dealership sales.

Asian markets rose Thursday amid hopes that the U.S. Fed would announce another round of monetary easing and European policy makers would take concrete measures to tackle the debt crisis looming over the euro zone.

Asian markets rose Wednesday amid positive economic data from the U.S. and the G7 finance ministers' decision to work closer together to tackle the euro zone economic crisis.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose Wednesday amid positive US economic data and the G7 meeting's promise of a closer collaboration to tackle economic problems.

Asian stock markets plunged Monday as weaker-than-expected economic data from the US and China raised concerns over the strength of global economic recovery.

The biggest wreck of the NASCAR season happened Sunday on the ninth lap of the Sprint Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway in Delaware. Twelve cars were involved, but no one was hurt.

Sales grew across the board in May for U.S. automakers with Chrysler Group LLC, a subsidiary of Italian Fiat S.p.A. (Milan: F), leading the way in growth and General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) leading in volume, while Ford's car and truck sales remained strong on demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. The Asian carmakers also reported U.S. sales on Friday with Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) enjoying bumper growth of 73 percent.

The Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) wants to make itself king of the hill once more and reclaim the No. 1 global sales position from the General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) by adding eight compact cars for emerging markets, Reuters said Friday.

U.S. auto sales will likely reach a 14.2 million seasonally adjusted annual sales rate in May 2012, the greatest year-over-year gain in more than 12 months, as consumers take advantage of credit and low interest rates to replace aging cars. Moreover, increasing car sales are now a primary driver of U.S. GDP growth, according to a Wednesday report by Kelley Blue Book.

Asian stock markets advanced for the second day Tuesday as China's commitment to stimulate growth in the world's second largest economy and signs of cooperation between German and French leaders buoyed sentiment.

Japan's Nikkei share average rose in early trading Tuesday, continuing Monday's technical correction as investors picked up bargains after last week's flurry of aggressive selling, triggered by concern over a deepening euro crisis.

Japan's vaunted automakers may soon stop building cars in their homeland for export as a soaring yen combines with Mother Nature's mood swings, and an aging population saps the strength of its domestic market, driving the companies across wide oceans and far from their birthplace.

The Japanese government is asking businesses and homes to conserve electricity during the summer in order to avoid blackouts, but efforts to restart nuclear reactors continue to encounter resistance by political opponents of the national government.

Asian stock markets slumped Friday as renewed concerns over euro zone crisis and lackluster economic data from US dented investor sentiment.

Asian stock markets tumbled on Friday, following an overnight slump on Wall Street as weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data and a deepening euro zone crisis dampened sentiment.

General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) rocked the automotive and advertising worlds with its announcement Tuesday that it will stop buying advertisements on Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB), a value of roughly $10 million a year, on the eve of social networking site's monster IPO. The rest of the automotive industry's major players are not following suit, though, Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), banking on the strength of the network effect, is actually upping its investment.

Google is getting serious about its self-driving car technology campaign. In an effort to make the driverless car legal on U.S. roads, the Mountain View, Calif. based company was spotted showing off the robo-prius on the streets of Washington, D.C. - just one day after Nevada became the first state to legalize autonomous vehicles.

Anti-austerity momentum in Greece continued to weigh down markets with the prospect of the country defaulting or leaving the euro. Spain?s Ibex 35 Index lost 3 percent, led by bank stocks, while its 10-year yields rose more than 6 percent over banking-sector concerns.

Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) reported a 30 percent drop in income for its fiscal year ended March 31, but the company is nevertheless making headway down the road to recovery from last year's earthquake in Japan and floods in Thailand as income for January-March 2012 increased by a factor of five.

Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp said Wednesday that its net profit for the three months ending March 31 surged five times compared to a year earlier as the car market picked up in the US.

Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) debuted the new 2012 RAV4 EV on Monday in Los Angeles at the 26th annual Electric Vehicle Symposium. The new electric RAV4 will have a range of approximately 100 miles with a charging time of roughly 6 hours, but the high price of $49,800 MSRP could leave some would-by buyers shocked.