Asia, Automaker | featured news

BYD, the Chinese battery and car maker backed by Warren Buffett, said it will kick off investor meetings for its domestic IPO on Thursday.

Toyota Motor Co may slip to No. 3 in the automaker production rankings behind General Motors and Volkswagen due to Japan's earthquake and nuclear crisis, which slashed local output by almost two-thirds in March alone.

The US is fast being replaced by China in high end spending. China is likely to pass the US and become the No. 1 market for Lamborghini later this year, company CEO Stephan Winkelmann told Reuters this week.

Toyota and Nissan they will resume production at all factories in Japan in mid-to-late April at about half their normal pace, joining Honda in an industrywide move to restart production halted by the March 11 earthquake.

Why GM's future is in Asia.

General Motors' sales in China continued their rapid growth in March, helping to cement China as the U.S. auto maker's biggest market by vehicle sales so far this year.

China overtook the United States as the biggest auto market in 2009 and automakers should see more strong growth this year, an industry group reported Friday.