Nissan returns to profit, Mitsubishi reduces loss (AP)

Nissan Motor Co. veered back into the black in its latest quarter as global auto sales rebounded, putting the company on track to meet its yearly profit target.

TOKYO (AP) -- Struggling Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co. said Wednesday it climbed back into the black in the latest quarter and predicted a smaller yearly loss thanks to soaring demand in China....

Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor Co. said Tuesday it booked a profit in the October-December quarter after a deep loss a year earlier, and now expects to be in the black for the full fiscal year.

Japanese automakers Mitsubishi and Mazda said on Thursday they were mired in the red in the six months to September, warning that the global car industry remains in a severe situation.Mitsubishi Motors Corp. posted a first-half net loss of 36.40 billion yen (402 million dollars), swinging into the red after a year-earlier profit of 12.77 billion yen.Revenue more than halved to 573.03 billion yen from 1.21 trillion yen, leaving the group with an operating loss of 32.50 billion yen, compared with a profit of 25.36 billion yen in the same period of 2008.

Nissan Motor posted a big quarterly loss and warned it would lose money this year, marking its first fall into the red since Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn took the reins a decade ago

Japan's Nissan Motor said Wednesday its first-half net profit plunged 92.9 percent from a year earlier due to weak sales, but it narrowed its full-year loss forecast.Japan's number three automaker, in which France's Renault has a 44-percent stake, said it performed better than expected thanks to brisk growth in China and government incentives for people to buy new cars during the recession.