Business

• OHIO GRABS ACURA FROM JAPAN AS YEN FUELS EXODUS TO U.S.: CARS (WED.-SUN., JAN. 18-22, 2012)
  Honda Motor Co.’s choice to build what it calls a racing-oriented “supercar” in Ohio highlights confidence in its U.S. engineers and plants. (BusinessWeek)
• TOYOTA PRIUS WAGON SALES IN 10 WEEKS TOP GM VOLT’S 2011 TOTAL (WED.-SUN., JAN. 18-22, 2012)
  Toyota Motor Corp. scores a victory in 2011 as U.S. deliveries of its Prius v wagon in 10 weeks tops sales of General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid that was available all year. (BusinessWeek)
• TOSHIBA WINS U.S. TURBINE ORDER (WED.-SUN., JAN. 18-22, 2012)
  Toshiba Corp. has won an order to supply a steam turbine and generator for a thermal power plant in the United States for $80 million. (Japan Times)
• OLYMPUS SURVIVES TSE DELISTING, FOR NOW (WED.-SUN., JAN. 18-22, 2012)
  Olympus Corp. will remain listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the bourse says, clearing one of the hurdles for the camera and medical equipment maker’s revival from accounting fraud. (Japan Times)
• YAHOO FOUNDER JERRY YANG RESIGNS (WED.-SUN., JAN. 18-22, 2012)
  In an end of an era at Yahoo, founder Jerry Yang steps down from the struggling Internet company’s board. (LA Times)
• TPG CAPITAL SAID TO CONSIDER INVESTING $1 BILLION IN OLYMPUS (MON.-TUES., JAN. 16-17, 2012)
  TPG Capital, the private-equity firm run by David Bonderman, is considering an investment in Olympus Corp., the Japanese camera maker that admitted to a $1.7 billion cover-up of losses, according to a person familiar with the matter. (BusinessWeek)
• TOYOTA’S CAMRY UNDER SIEGE (FRI., JAN. 13, 2012)
  Toyota Motor has survived two years’ worth of setbacks. Now it faces an unprecedented rush of competitors for its franchise car, the Camry sedan. (BusinessWeek.com)
• WYNN VICE CHAIRMAN OKADA SUES TO SEE COMPANY’S BOOKS IN SPENDING DISPUTE (FRI., JAN. 13, 2012)
  Wynn Resorts Ltd. Vice Chairman Kazuo Okada sues the casino operator for access to financial records in a dispute with the company over the use of funds. (Bloomberg)
• APPLE BEIJING SHOP PELTED WITH EGGS AS IPHONE DEBUT BOTCHED (FRI., JAN. 13, 2012)
  Apple Inc., whose skill at hyping new products has helped make it the world’s most valuable technology company, becomes a victim of its own success with a botched introduction of its iPhone 4S in China. (BusinessWeek)
• HONDA CEO: ‘WE WERE JINXED’ (THURS., JAN. 12, 2012)
  That’s what Honda President Takanobu Ito told reporters at the Detroit auto show, regarding 2011. The deadly tsunami in Japan and floods in Thailand disrupted production for months. The new Honda Civic laid an egg in the U.S. market. (WSJ)
• TOYOTA EYES U.S. AS BIG EXPORT BASE (THURS., JAN. 12, 2012)
  The Japanese carmaker is seeking to increase exports from its North American factories in a bid to cushion the impact of a strong yen. (BBC)
• TOYOTA LOOKS TO SMALL ‘C’ TO REACH U.S. RECORD PRIUS SALES (THURS., JAN. 12, 2012)
  The biggest seller of gasoline-electric cars, said U.S. Prius sales will climb more than 60% to a record this year, helped by the introduction of a smaller version of the hybrid hatchback. (BusinessWeek)
• TOYOTA PRIUS JAPAN TOP-SELLING CAR FOR THIRD YEAR (THURS., JAN. 12, 2012)
  Sony Corp.’s Kazuo Hirai said the PlayStation 3 console will have a 10-year lifespan, suggesting the 5-year-old video-game player won’t be replaced soon. (BusinessWeek)
• SONY’S HIRAI SAYS PLAYSTATION 3 HAS 5 MORE YEARS IN STORES (THURS., JAN. 12, 2012)
  Sony Corp.’s Kazuo Hirai said the PlayStation 3 console will have a 10-year lifespan, suggesting the 5-year-old video-game player won’t be replaced soon. (BusinessWeek)
• KAZUO HIRAI TO SUCCEED HOWARD STRINGER AT SONY CORP. (WED., JAN. 11, 2012)
  Sony’s deputy president Kazuo Hirai will succeed Howard Stringer as president of Sony Corp. as early as April, according to Japan's largest business newspaper, Nikkei. (THR)
• TOYOTA YARIS HYBRID TO BE BUILT IN FRANCE (WED., JAN. 11, 2012)
  Toyota Motor Europe has just released details of the Yaris Hybrid, a world premiere for March's Geneva show. (just-auto.com)
• HONDA TO BUILD 'SUPER CAR' IN OHIO (WED., JAN. 11, 2012)
  http://rss.businessweek.com/~r/bw_rss/asiaindex/~3/Gl6bY9LzEYo/honda-to-build-acura-nsx-super-car-on-dedicated-ohio-line.html
• LEXUS LF-LC 2+2 HYBRID TO DEBUT IN DETROIT (WED., JAN. 11, 2012)
  Lexus, the luxury-vehicle unit of Toyota Motor Corp., said it will unveil a four-seat sports car concept called the LF-LC 2+2 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. (WSJ)
• JAPAN CARMAKERS SEE US GAINS AFTER 2011 SLUMP (WED., JAN. 11, 2012)
  Japanese carmakers are eyeing big U.S. sales gains after introducing a slew of new vehicles for the American market but face stiff competition from a resurgent Detroit and ambitious Koreans and Germans. (AFP)
• 3DS BREAKS MONTHLY SALES RECORD IN JAPAN (WED., JAN. 11, 2012)
  After a controversial price-cut last year, the 3DS has been experiencing some seriously impressive growth. Between Nov.28 and Dec. 25, Nintendo's latest handheld sold an impressive 1,492,931 units in Japan (EscapistMagazine.com)
• OLYMPUS SUES CURRENT PRESIDENT, EX-DIRECTORS (WED., JAN. 11, 2012)
  Olympus Corp. sues its current president and three ex-directors for several million dollars in compensation as the company seeks to draw a line under one of the nation's worst accounting scandals. (Reuters)
• WENDY'S RE-ENTERS JAPAN WITH $16 FOIE-GRAS-AND-TRUFFLE BURGER (WED., JAN. 11, 2012)
  The third-largest U.S. burger chain is returning to Japan after a two-year break. Its Japanese franchisee developed the luxurious sandwich. (LA Times)
• THE MYTH OF JAPAN’S FAILURE (WED., JAN. 11, 2012)
  Americans are told to look to Japan as a warning of what the country might become if the right path is not followed. But that presentation of Japan is a myth. (NY Times)
• PAUL KRUGMAN: JAPAN, RECONSIDERED (WED., JAN. 11, 2012)
  A number of readers have asked me for an evaluation of Eamonn Fingleton’s article about Japan. Is Japan doing as well as he says? Well, no — but his point about the overstatement of Japan’s decline is right. (NYT)
• MERCEDES CARS GET NISSAN GAS ENGINES (WED., JAN. 11, 2012)
  Nissan Motor Co. says it will supply four-cylinder gasoline engines to Daimler AG for use in its Mercedes-Benz C-class cars starting in 2014. (Japan Times)