10 Japanese comeback cars for 2012

2011 was a rough year for Japanese automakers. Here are 10 cars that will help them get back on the road.

The sun will rise again
The sun will rise again
Whatever happened to Japan's plans to conquer the U.S. auto market? There's a lot of talk about the revival of the Detroit Three (Ford's dividend, Chrysler's new life, GM's small cars) but the once-feared Japanese Three and their smaller siblings are struggling. Hit by earthquakes at home and floods abroad, and punished by the strengthening of the Japanese yen, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan have been pummeled this year. News of their activities has been pushed to the back pages while Hyundai, Kia, and German automakers dominate the headlines.

As a result, 2012 is shaping up as a benchmark year for these once-unstoppable companies. Will they be able to regain the momentum that once helped push two of the Detroit Three into bankruptcy? Or will they continue their slide as they fight each other -- and try to cope with forces that are out of their control?

Here are 10 Japanese cars that will help separate the winners from the losers:


By Alex Taylor III, senior-editor-at-large @FortuneMagazine - Last updated December 22 2011: 1:40 PM ET
Join the Conversation
The most disliked cars of 2011

The competition was fierce in the race to be last. Surprise - the car at the bottom of the heap wasn't from Detroit.

Find Your Next Car

Get the latest car news:

Most Popular
 
 
 
 
 

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.