Total global production came in at 109,960 units, 97.0 percent of the year ago period. Japanese production increased 17.7 percent year-on-year to 71,898 units, making the third consecutive month of year-on-year production volume increases.

Total vehicle sales in Japan reached 16,418 units, 15.7 percent decline over the December 2005 total. Registered vehicle sales declined to 4,794 units, or 58.0 percent of the year ago figure due to slower sales of Outlander and the Colt series. Minicar sales continued year-on-year growth however, increasing to 11,624 units, 103.6 percent of the total for December 2005.

Future Classic: Dodge Colt

With the rise of the import trend, we're seeing Musclecar-era Japanese rides attain some of the same cachet as domestic iron from the same time. Funny, they didn't strike us this way at the time, but looking at them now, they're like three-quarter scale models of the Big Three's offerings. There seems to be a soft spot for early Celicas and of course, the Datsun 510 makes one hell of a half-price 2002. Somewhat overlooked, in our opinion, are the Mitsubishi models imported by Chrysler in the early 1970s, a.k.a. the Dodge Colt. Check out more after the jump, including a really campy Dodge spot that was the only video we could dig up with two seconds of the Colt in it. This post is dedicated to the Indianapolis Colts, winners of SuperBowl XLI, in case you haven't heard. The Colt's domestic competitors in the '70s were the Ford Pinto and Chevrolet Vega.

Mitsubishi Motors Posts First Net Profit in 4 Years (Update2)

Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Japan's sixth-largest automaker, posted a quarterly profit for the first time in four years, helped by the sale of more profitable models and a weaker yen.