THE year 2013 saw the Japanese economy turn the corner on two decades of stagnation.

Toyota’s quarterly profit has surged 70% as a weaker Japanese yen and cost cuts helped offset a slight decline in vehicle sales.

Toyota’s profit more than doubled to 313.9bn yen (€2.4bn) in the January-March quarter as cost cuts and better sales worked with a weakening yen to add momentum to the car maker’s comeback.

It is starting to become a case of total recall.

Toyota sold 4.97 million vehicles globally in the first six months of this year, a strong result that could see the Japanese firm regain its crown as the world’s top car maker from General Motors.

Toyota president Akio Toyoda is assuring shareholders that Japan’s top carmaker has recovered from last year’s disasters even as power shortages continue to dog the country.

Toyota profits more than quadrupled to 121bn yen (€1.16bn) in the January to March period compared with the previous year, capping a hardship-filled year as it was battered by the tsunami in Japan.

CAR giant Toyota has unveiled a futuristic concept vehicle resembling a giant smartphone to demonstrate how it is trying to take the lead in technology.

Toyota has told its suppliers in Japan to prepare for ramped-up production in 2012 and following years, signalling that the troubled car maker is confident it is back on a growth track after being hit by massive recalls and the tsunami disaster.

President Akio Toyoda promised shareholders a revived Toyota despite the production disruptions from the earthquake and tsunami that decimated north eastern Japan on March 11, and first offered his prayers for those killed.

Car giant Toyota is setting up an internet social networking service so drivers can interact with their vehicles in a way similar to posting on Facebook or Twitter.

Car giant Toyota said its global car production, disrupted by parts shortages from last month’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan, will not return to normal until November or December.

Nasa and the National Academy of Sciences are joining the US government’s effort to find out what caused the sudden acceleration problems that led to car giant Toyota’s massive recalls.

Toyota’s training of workers to maintain quality control failed to keep up with the company’s rapid growth, its president, Akio Toyoda, said in an interview published today.

Relatives of a family killed in a high-speed crash that highlighted safety flaws of Toyotas and led to the recalls of millions of vehicles have sued the world’s largest car maker, according to a lawsuit filed today.

Embattled Toyota has been hit by a new quality control problem, it emerged today, as the world’s biggest car maker moved to repair nearly one million vehicles in the US and Japan with potentially leaky oil hoses.

The head of Toyota faces angry US politicians today in an attempt to limit even more damage to the company over its safety recall of millions of cars.

Toyota officials claimed they saved the company $100m (€73m) by successfully negotiating with the US government on a limited recall of floor mats in some Toyota and Lexus vehicles, according to new documents.

Japan's transport ministry may reform its car recall system, reports said today, as Toyota faces accusations of delays over drivers' complaints.

Toyota president Akio Toyoda will attend a US government hearing next week about the car maker’s massive recalls.

Embattled car maker Toyota and the US government are probing complaints that the popular Corolla model is difficult to steer straight, it emerged today.

Toyota is looking into possible power-steering problems with the Corolla subcompact, the world’s best-selling car, the car giant’s quality control executive said today.

Toyota took full-page ads in major Japanese newspapers today to apologise for massive recalls and began fixing braking faults on two problem hybrid models as pressure mounted on the car maker to come clean over defects.

Toyota’s under-fire president will reveal more tomorrow about the company’s massive global recall following severe criticism for being largely invisible during the crisis.

Toyota was preparing today to announce plans to deal with braking problems in its prized Prius hybrid amid reports it had decided to issue a recall for the vehicle in Japan.

Toyota is to recall its flagship Prius hybrid in Japan, it was reported today.

The president of car giant Toyota faced a huge backlash from the Japanese media today for failing to offer a convincing explanation over the massive worldwide car recall.

Toyota’s president today apologised for the car company’s global recalls.

Toyota’s decision to suspend US sales of eight of its most popular models - including the Camry, America’s best-selling car – to fix faulty accelerator pedals could spread to Europe.

FORMULA ONE manufacturer Renault are understood to have held a board meeting in Paris yesterday relating to their involvement in the sport.

Toyota today confirmed they are pulling out of Formula One with immediate effect for financial reasons.

Toyota are expected to announce their withdrawal from Formula One today, according to reports in Japan.

Toyota’s entire product line-up is to be reviewed to better focus its offerings to each global region, the firm’s new president said today.

Japanese car giant Toyota unveiled its new Prius hybrid today saying it already had 80,000 advance orders amid increasing competition with Honda’s rival Insight car.

Toyota Motor Corp has said that incoming president Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the company's founder, will be a driver on their team in a 24-hour endurance race in Germany.

Car giant Toyota is considering cutting more than 1,000 full-time jobs in the UK and North America amid faltering global demand, it was reported today.