TOKYO: World’s largest automaker Toyota’s nine-month net profit surged nearly 10 percent to 1.9 trillion yen ($16 billion), the company said on Friday.
The Corolla and Prius maker also slightly raised its fiscal year profit forecast to 2.27 trillion yen, but unit sales were down in most regions, including Europe and Japan, while North America rose.
The region has out stood for Japanese automakers, with rival Honda last week saying it was a bright spot that helped offset sluggish sales at home. Toyota and its domestic rivals have benefited from healthy
growth in the US where low interest rates are proving a boon to consumers, although the Federal Reserve’s possible plans for more rate hikes this year could dampen demand. Weakening demand in emerging markets such as Thailand and Indonesia, as well as a planned consumption tax hike in Japan next year, could also eat into sales, analysts said.
“A further slowdown in emerging economies may affect (Toyota’s) sales overseas, and an expected rate hike in the United States would dampen customers’ appetite,” for new cars, said Shigeru Matsumura, analyst at SMBC Friend Research Centre. “These are potential risks.”
Friday figures come after Toyota last month kept the title of world’s top automaker for the fourth straight year after saying it sold 10.15 million vehicles globally in 2015, driving past Volkswagen and General Motors.
