Toyota (NYSE: TM) says China sales in April up 68 percent

Palm Beach, FL 5/7/12 (StreetBeat) -- China sales by Japan's Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE: TM) and its two local joint-venture partners rose 68 percent in April from a year earlier to about 81,700 vehicles, according to a company spokesman.

For the first four months of the year, the Japanese auto maker sold a total of about 293,200 vehicles, a 14.3 percent increase from the same period last year, said the spokesman, Takanori Yokoi.

Yokoi said the large year-on-year jump in April sales was due chiefly to the fact that sales during April last year were comparatively low because of the massive earthquake on March 11. The earthquake and tsunami paralyzed production of key components and affected Toyota's vehicle production around the world, including China.

Still, Toyota's sales momentum was "fairly strong" so far this year, said Yokoi. Because the company's sales performance was so bad last year due to the impact from the earthquake Toyota "should be able to post double-digit sales growth at least for the next several months," the Beijing-based spokesman said.

"If things go as normally as we expect, we should be able to meet our sales goal" of selling one million cars this year, said Yokoi.

Toyota's China sales last year totaled about 883,400 vehicles, a 4.4 percent increase from 2010, reflecting in part the general slowdown of automobile sales in China last year.

After rapid growth in 2009 and 2010, China's auto market as a whole slowed considerably last year as sales of smaller-engine cars and commercial vehicles stalled after the government ended some incentives for car buyers.

Various industry forecasts point to overall vehicle sales this year growing about 5-10 percent from 2011.

Toyota would have to grow sales by about 13 percent this year to meet its goal of selling one million vehicles.

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Toyota cuts profit outlook, Thai floods take toll

Tallahassee, FL 12/8/11 (StreetBeat) -- Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM) on Friday sharply downgraded its earnings forecast for this fiscal year through March, blaming a strong yen and the massive flooding in Thailand.

Japan's biggest automaker expects to book a net profit of 180 billion yen ($2.3 billion), down 54 percent from the 390 billion yen it projected in August. It estimates leaner revenue of 18.2 trillion yen ($234.36 billion) from 19 trillion yen. Toyota expects to sell 7.38 million vehicles worldwide this year instead of 7.6 million it predicted four months ago.

The maker of the Camry and Corolla sedans is on track to lose its title as the world's largest automaker this calendar year. Toyota sank to No. 3 in vehicle sales during the first six months, trailing U.S. rival General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM) and Volkswagen AG (OTCBB:VLKAY.PK) of Germany. Toyota held off from releasing new earnings forecasts when it announced its first-half earnings results last month, citing uncertainties from the Thai floods that disrupted parts supplies.

It's been a rough year for Japanese car makers, who were first hit with the earthquake and tsunami in March. They had largely rebounded from the disaster when they confronted the immense flooding in Thailand this autumn. Car production as far away as North America was scaled back as the creeping floodwaters put suppliers out of action. The flooding, which was Thailand's worst in half a century, will result in an output loss of 230,000 vehicles, said Executive Vice President Satoshi Ozawa at a news conference in Tokyo.

But among Japan's car makers, Honda Motor Co. has been the worst hit by the floods. It has yet to release forecasts as a result.

Compounding the pain is a strong yen, which hit multiple historic highs against the dollar this year. With jitters about European and U.S. economies, global investors have turned to the yen as a relative safe haven.

Japanese manufacturers, including car and high-tech makers, responded by shifting more production abroad — a trend that has government officials and the business community concerned about a hollowing out of Japanese industry. "Because of the strong yen, the collapse of the foundation of Japanese manufacturing has begun," Ozawa said.

Toyota's new forecasts incorporate a 120 billion yen hit on operating profit from the Thai floods and another 190 billion yen from the negative impact of currency levels. It now sees operating profit of 200 billion yen, compared with 450 billion yen in its August forecast.

The company lowered its foreign exchange assumptions to account for the yen's appreciation over the last several months. It expects the yen to average 78 to the dollar this year, from 80 yen to the dollar in its previous estimate. It assumes 109 yen against the euro, down from 116 yen to the euro.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly