Toyota’s fiscal first-quarter profit plunged 28 percent from the previous year as slipping North American sales, a strong yen and rising material costs dented the earnings of the Japanese automaker.
Toyota Motor Corp has so far avoided the kinds of deep losses racked up by US automakers such as General Motors Corp and Ford Motor Co. But even Toyota, Japan’s top automaker, is seeing the momentous pace of its sales growth slow amid a US downturn and soaring gas prices.
Toyota reported yesterday that its April-June profit fell to ¥353.66 billion (US$3.23 billion) from nearly ¥492 billion the same period the previous year. Quarterly sales edged down 4.7 percent to ¥6.215 trillion.
Toyota, which makes the Prius gas-electric hybrid and Lexus luxury models, has been running neck-and-neck in global vehicle sales with GM, which has been the world’s top automaker for 77 years.
Toyota sold 4,817,941 vehicles globally during the first six months of the calendar year, beating GM by 277,532 vehicles.
Still, Toyota is foreseeing tough times ahead.
Last month, Toyota lowered its global vehicle sales plan for this calendar year by 350,000 vehicles to 9.5 million vehicles, blaming the sluggish North American market. The pace of Toyota’s growth has been slowing to a 1 percent gain this year in contrast to a 6 percent climb last year.
For the latest quarter, Toyota sold 2.19 million vehicles worldwide, up 1.1 percent, or 24,000 vehicles, on year.
Toyota’s North American sales fell by 33,000 vehicles, or 4.3 percent, to 729,000. European sales were down by 32,000 vehicles, or 9.6 percent, to 301,000.
Koji Endo, auto analyst at Credit Suisse in Tokyo, said the troubles at Toyota in maintaining profits and vehicle sales were worse than it looked on the surface because of what he characterized as some bookkeeping stunts that were boosting the numbers.
“The numbers on the surface don’t look that bad, but when you look at what they are showing, the situation is extremely tough for Toyota,” he said.
Toyota’s vehicle sales in emerging markets are rising, though, with sales in Asia — where the remodeled Corolla is popular — up by 40,000 vehicles, or 18 percent, to 262,000.
Toyota is in a better position than some rivals to ride out the gasoline-price crunch because it doesn’t have as many trucks or other gas-guzzlers in its lineup and boasts a reputation for good mileage.
Toyota said it gained in US market share to a record high 17.4 percent for the quarter.
But the strengthening yen, which tends to eat away at the profits of Japanese exporters, cost Toyota ¥200 billion in the latest quarter, it said.
Toyota’s sales in its sluggish home Japanese market also improved, gaining 12,000 vehicles, or 2.4 percent, to 512,000 vehicles for the quarter on strong demand for the new Crown sedan.
Exports from Japan to Russia, Australia and the Middle East were also strong, it said.
Toyota kept unchanged its forecast for the fiscal year through next March at a ¥1.25 trillion profit on ¥25 trillion in sales.
That would be a 27 percent on-year dive in profit — its first full-year profit drop in seven years — and a 4.9 percent drop in sales.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source