Toyota, Honda and Nissan take profit hit amid auto industry woes

TOKYO -- Growing competition, rising costs and slowing sales have dealt a heavy blow to Japan's leading automakers, with more players weighing streamlining efforts to overcome industry headwinds.

Seven Japanese automakers -- Toyota Motor, Honda Motor, Nissan Motor, Mazda Motor, Suzuki Motor, Subaru and Mitsubishi Motors -- reported a combined net profit of 840.6 billion yen ($5.5 billion) during the July-September quarter, a 57% decline from the same period last year.