TOKYO – Toyota’s profit between July and September fell to less than half of what it was in the same period last year, due to a subsequent production freeze a certification scandal and recalls of dented car salesthe Japanese automaker said Wednesday.
Toyota Motor Corp.’s quarterly profit totaled 573.7 billion yen ($3.7 billion) through September, compared with almost 1.28 trillion yen in the same quarter last year.
Quarterly revenue rose slightly from 11.43 trillion yen to 11.44 trillion yen ($75 billion).
Toyota, which makes the luxury Camry and Lexus models, apologized and suspended production of some models after recognizing a wide range fraudulent testing, including the use of inadequate or outdated data in crash tests, as well as improper testing of airbag inflation.
Fraudulent tests were also found at Toyota group manufacturers Hino Motors and Daihatsu Motor Co.
Toyota sold more than 11 million vehicles worldwide in the past fiscal year. Toyota now expects to sell 10.85 million vehicles for this fiscal year through March.
For the latest quarter, Toyota sold 2.3 million vehicles worldwide, up from 2.4 million vehicles.
Toyota officials vowed to do better by investing more in “human resources and growth areas,” while at the same time pursuing what the automaker calls “multi-pathway,” meaning it will boost hybrids and fuel cells as well as electric vehicles, depending of the taste of the market.
Such investments in people will extend to its subsidiaries and supply chains, they said. According to Toyota, car production will recover in the second half of the fiscal year.
Japan’s production fell in the first half of the budget due to “the need to address certification issues and take time to reexamine our manufacturing environment and culture,” Chief Financial Officer Yoichi Miyazaki told reporters.
Toyota’s production at its U.S. plant in Indiana was temporarily halted due to recalls but is back on track compared to last month, he said.
Toyota, based in the city of Toyota, central Japan, stuck to its full-year forecast of profit of 3.57 trillion yen ($23 billion), up from 4.94 trillion yen in the previous fiscal year.
Among Japanese automakers, Honda Motor Co. reports. financial results later in the day, while Nissan Motor Co. publishes this Thursday.
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Yuri Kageyama is at X: https://x.com/yurikageyama
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