Toyota is setting up a social networking service with the help of a U.S. Internet company and Microsoft so drivers can interact with their cars in ways similar to Twitter and Facebook. Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. and Salesforce.com, based in San Francisco, announced their alliance Monday to launch "Toyota Friend," a private social network for Toyota owners that works similar to tweets on Twitter.

Everything old is new again for one Japanese manufacturer, which has unveiled an electronic version of a rickshaw. The "Meguru" is a three-wheeled, three-seat compact vehicle whose single lithium-ion battery allows for a maximum speed and range of 40 kilometers (25 miles) per hour, although the number of batteries could be increased for a longer ride.

Many foreign automakers are trying to grab a larger share of the Japanese market by taking advantage of the strong yen to cut the prices of their cars, sometimes by hundreds of thousands of yen. These carmakers have chalked up brisk sales in recent months--the Japan Automobile Importers Association said Monday 131,799 registered imported cars were sold between January and August, an impressive 26.2 percent rise from the same period in 2009. 

Toyota's Prius hybrid is becoming a little less quiet with a new electronic humming device the automaker hopes answers complaints from pedestrians who can't hear the top-selling car approaching. The ¥12,600 speaker system, which will be installed under the hood of the third-generation Prius, sets off a whirring sound designed to be about the same noise level as a regular car engine so it isn't annoying, Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday.

Toyota, Nissan and other Japanese automakers together with a power company have set up a group to promote electric vehicles by standardizing recharging machines and marketing the technology abroad.