Toyota sank into the red for the October-to-December quarter and said yesterday it was heading for its first annual net loss since 1950 because of plunging global automobile sales and a strong yen.
Joining a string of Japanese companies that have slashed forecasts, Toyota Motor Corp said it expected a net loss of ¥350 billion (US$3.9 billion) for the fiscal year ending next month.
That’s a stunning reversal from the record ¥1.72 trillion profit the maker of the Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury car posted the previous fiscal year. In December, Toyota thought it would eke out a small net profit, but the outlook has darkened further since then, especially amid a dramatic contraction in the US auto market.
PHOTO: AP
For the fiscal third quarter, Toyota racked up a ¥164.7 billion loss, down sharply from the ¥458.6 billion profit it had the same period the previous year, as the global slump squelched sales.
Quarterly sales plunged 28.4 percent to ¥4.8 trillion.
The last time Toyota, which last year overtook General Motors Corp to become the world’s best-selling auto company, had an annual net loss was in 1950 when it reported only parent results. Since it began reporting group results in 1998, under US accounting standards, it has never been in the red.
Global vehicle sales for the quarter shrank by 443,000 vehicles from the same period a year earlier to 1.84 million, as sales dropped throughout the world, including North America, Europe, Japan and other Asian nations, it said.
“Both revenues and profits declined severely during this period,” Toyota executive vice president Mitsuo Kinoshita said of the latest quarter.
Conditions were especially tough in the US and Europe, and the rapid rise of the yen, which reduces the value of overseas earnings, also hurt results, he said.
Toyota also lowered its global vehicles sales forecast by 220,000 vehicles from its December forecast to 7.32 million vehicles.
Kinoshita promised that the company would turn itself around through cost cuts and reshaping its business by coming up new products to meet global demand.
He said Toyota continues to be committed to developing gas-electric hybrids as a pillar of its growth strategy.
Kinoshita pointed to the third-generation Prius, which is set to arrive at dealerships in May, as well as the HS250h, the first Lexus model designed solely as a hybrid, scheduled for sale in the middle of this year, as models symbolizing Toyota’s future.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS