Toyota, Honda, Nissan likelyto report losses
Toyota Motor Corp, Honda Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co, Japan's three biggest automakers, may report quarterly losses after the global recession crippled sales. South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co may also say its profit fell to the lowest in at least seven years.
Toyota probably had a net loss of 678 billion yen ($6.9 billion) for the three months ended March 31 from a profit of 317 billion yen a year earlier, according to the median of four analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Net income at Hyundai, South Korea's largest automaker, probably tumbled 48 percent.
Vehicle demand in the US, the world's biggest auto market, plunged last quarter. Japanese carmakers slashed jobs and production and Toyota will cut managers' pay while Japan, Germany and China began offering incentives to spur auto sales.