From navigation systems serving as game consoles to sound systems doubling as amplifiers and nail polish matching a paint job, automakers are trying new tricks to lure fickle young buyers.
Luxury and sports cars will be in the spotlight when the Detroit auto show opens Monday amid booming sales and renewed optimism as the US economy rebounds from a deep downturn.
Toyota said Wednesday that it expects to sell 9.7 million vehicles globally this year, up 22 percent from 2011 as Japan's biggest automaker accelerates a recovery after last year's natural disasters.
Mitsubishi Motors on Wednesday widened a recall over an oil leak issue on vehicles sold in Japan to about 1.7 million vehicles, prompting a rebuke from the country's transport ministry.
Japan's top three carmakers will halve production in China following a sales slump there sparked by a backlash over a territorial row between Tokyo and Beijing.
Japanese auto giants Toyota and Nissan are reducing production in China because demand for Japanese cars has been hit by a bitter row over disputed islands.
Japan's big three automakers shuttered some or all of their factory operations in China on Tuesday amid escalating anti-Japan protests centred on a bitter territorial dispute between the Asian giants.
President Barack Obama will launch a new WTO enforcement action against Chinese auto subsidies Monday, countering his Republican foe Mitt Romney's accusations that he is too timid towards Beijing.