Toyota raised its full-year profit forecast on Wednesday, with the Japanese automaker betting that cost-cutting and strong demand for hybrids would help it ride out the impact of United States (US) President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The world’s top-selling carmaker now expects operating profit of $22.6 billion for the financial year to end-March, up 6%.
The US tariffs have dealt a body blow to an industry already stung by deepening competition from Chinese EV makers and a once-in-a-century upheaval brought by the advance of EVs and other new technologies.
“North America is facing a very tough situation due to the impact of tariffs,” Kenta Kon, Toyota’s chief financial officer, told a financial results briefing. While conditions “were not easy” in other markets such as China, Europe, Asia and Africa, both profitability and sales volume remained “solid”, he said.
Toyota said last week its worldwide production increased by more than 10% in September and rose for a fourth straight month, as both sales and output increased in the US, its top market.
Toyota shares were deep in negative territory on Wednesday afternoon, trading 3.5% lower compared with a decline of 1.8% shortly before the release of its results.
–Reuters–
