Mitsubishi Motors returned to an operating profit - JPY12.2bn - in its first fiscal 2011/12 quarter, an improvement of JPY16.7bn year on year.
Once you’ve ripped up your L-plates, finding a car that’s affordable to insure, safe and cheap to run can be hard. We name five top buys

Automotive Insulations (AI) is to supply Happich UK with acoustic and thermal insulation systems in a drive to expand its presence in Britain.
According to IHS Automotive, Porsche topped its 2011 supplier relationship survey despite dropping over 4% in the ratings compared to 2010.
Renault and Nissan CEO, Carlos Ghosn, has hinted production of Renault vehicles may begin in China by 2016.
Porsche has announced a boost in first 2011 operating profit to EUR1.07bn, up from EUR675m in H1 2010. Sales rose 18.9% to EUR5.22bn on unit volume up 26.3% to 56,272. Deliveries rose 36.8% to 60,659 cars.
French and Spanish new-car sales showed signs in July that an end could be in sight to a long, steep fall, as the boost from government incentive schemes begins to work its way out of comparative figures.
The Clio GT earns its stripes with new special edition from £14,000

Porsche reported a big surge in first-half operating profit to 1.07 billion euros ($1.54 billion) from 675 million a year earlier, boosted by continued demand for luxury cars in China and a recovery of the North American market.
Honda raised its full-year profit forecast by 18 percent on a quicker-than-expected recovery from the March 11 earthquake. The automaker may post net income of 230 billion yen ($2.
Audi is exploring a possible expansion of engine manufacturing capacity at its Hungarian plant in Gyor, business daily Vilaggazdasag reported on Monday. The carmaker said last year it would invest about 900 million euros ($1.
Sergio Marchionne's appointment of Saad Chehab as the new head of Chrysler and Lancia brands is a classic Sergio surprise. The CEO of Fiat and Chrysler delights in handing key jobs to rising young talent.
It has been a year most Japanese automakers would like to forget. It began with profits being hammered by the yen's surge against the dollar and euro. Then came the country's devastating March 11 earthquake.
Japan's big 3 say they have a cure for what ails them, and that cure is product -- an onslaught in high-volume segments that will continue through next year.
President Obama's plan for a 54.5 mpg efficiency target by the 2025 model year would double the current standard, but the Detroit 3 won a major exemption for their highly profitable full-sized pickups.
As supplies of Japanese-brand vehicles start to return to normal, U.S. car dealers expect automakers to spend hundreds of millions more on incentives and advertising in an attempt to salvage 2011.
Welcome to a huge and until now unwanted factory in the North American auto industry. It is the new home of Carlex Glass in Nashville. How unwanted was it? Try five owners in 12 years. But today it's different.
Fiat will air its first national TV commercials today in a new campaign that will receive extensive play on national TV and cable networks.
British car manufacturer MG Motor UK has confirmed it will return to the forefront of international motorsport in 2011 as a partner of ambitious Le Mans Series contenders Team RLR.
IndyCar's vice president of technology Will Phillips confirmed that a prototype of the new Indy car will be shakendown next week.