After slow period, Japan's product pipeline is full

By Mark Rechtin and Lindsay Chappell, Crain staff report (AN)

Tokyo -- What with the earthquake, a strong yen and Toyota's recall crisis, the combined US market share of Japan's three biggest automakers has plunged in the past year.

Generally speaking, it has been a barren period in terms of new-product launches, too. But a surge of models in the pipeline at Toyota, Honda and Nissan could mean that the Detroit 3 and the high-flying Koreans soon will have a renewed fight on their hands.

Toyota plans to redesign the Camry, Yaris, Tacoma and Avalon by the fall of 2012 and will launch the Prius V, Prius C and Prius Plug-in within the next year or so.

Honda has a big year coming up, with a redesigned CR-V arriving this winter and a redesigned Accord following next spring.

Nissan goes into redesign mode this fall on several of its best-selling models, including the Versa, Sentra, Altima and Pathfinder. Over the next 18 months Nissan also will seek to bring a fresh look to an existing lineup.

By the spring of 2013, Lexus plans to redesign or re-engineer the GS, ES, IS and LS sedans. A new wave of Scion products will carry Toyota's youth brand into different segments.

Acura's two crossovers, the RDX and MDX, will be redesigned in 2012, and the RL flagship will be re-engineered in late 2012.

Meanwhile, Infiniti is preparing to expand its portfolio as it develops three vehicles over the next few years: a compact sedan, a family-sized crossover and an electric luxury car based on the Nissan Leaf.

From Automotive News (A Crain publication)