Tokyo go, go for storming Lexus supercar

V10-engined LFA will be star of Japanese expo.

It's the news every supercar fan was desperate to hear: the Lexus LFA is going into production! Although Honda has canned plans for a new NSX, the wrap,s will be taken off the LFA at October’s Tokyo Motor Show.

The two-seater flagship will feature a 600bhp V10, giving 0-60mph in less than four seconds and a 200mph-plus top speed. Expect a light carbon fibre body with a pop-up wing, rear-wheel drive and an F1-style paddleshift box.

A replacement for the Celica will also be revealed at Tokyo. This rear-driven coupé is the result of a joint project by Toyota and Subaru, and features an Impreza platform and drivetrain. But the show could be short on launches from other makers. Ford, GM, Chrysler, Mercedes, Renault, Volkswagen and Lamborghini have all pulled out of the expo, blaming the economic downturn. This follows news that the British Motor Show has been cancelled for similar reasons.

Honda scraps plans to build NSX sports car

Honda Motor Co. cancelled plans to build a new Acura NSX sports car as the automaker grapples with the global economic slump.

President Takeo Fukui announced the NSX's demise today as one of several cost-saving cutbacks.

The NSX was expected to have a front-mounted, V-10 engine that made at least 500 hp. It would have been the successor to the first-generation NSX, which had a mid-mounted V-6. That NSX went out of production in late 2005 after 14 years.

Its successor was expected to debut as a 2010 model and was poised to be Acura's answer to the Audi R8 and Nissan GT-R.

The NSX was expected to be outfitted with advanced technologies, including the Super Handling All-Wheel Drive system. It was also likely to get aluminum and carbon-fiber parts to keep weight low.

The program appeared to be on track as late as this summer, when spy shooters caught what looked to be an NSX on Germany's famed Nürburgring circuit.

That car looked similar to the Advanced Sports Car concept unveiled at the Detroit auto show in 2007.

In addition to canceling the NSX, Honda is cutting sales and profit forecasts and executive pay while delaying plant openings. It also scrapped plans to launch the Acura brand in Japan in 2010.