Toyota Cuts Annual Profit Forecast By 54 Percent
This year has been a tough one for Toyota thanks to Mother Nature and her natural disasters. As if the tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan wasn’t bad enough, Thailand experienced its worst floods in almost 70 years, disrupting Toyota’s production of their popular Camry and Prius models.
As a result, Toyota has had to cut its full-year profit forecast by 54-percent, dropping their net income 56-percent to $2.3 billion in the 12 months ending on March 31st, 2012. That’s less than half the profit that was originally projected by analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Combine the disasters with the yen’s surge and it’s no surprise that Toyota’s recovery is going to be tough and may take longer than one would expect for the popular Japanese auto manufacturer. It is likely that Toyota will be giving up its three-year crown of world’s largest carmaker to GM for 2011.
Due to the flood, Toyota and Honda both delayed their new projections, while Nissan on the other hand raised its profit forecast thanks to a rise in vehicle sales in China. It’s widely believed that Toyota lost more output than any other automotive manufacturer from Thailand’s record floods, possibly causing 260,000 vehicles to have been lost in production.
Toyota is also in a balancing act with the pricing on their vehicles due to the rising yen. They have even admitted that they have had to raise the prices on some of their vehicles and anticipate a drop in sales as a result.
[Source: Automotive News]
Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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