A £3bn marketing budget has helped Japanese carmaker Toyota reverse last year's ¥77bn loss and post its biggest quarterly profit in over two years.
Toyota made a net profit of ¥190.4 billion (£1.4bn) in the three months to June, showing the company is moving forward from last year’s recall debacle. The company now expects to sell 7.38 million cars globally and make a net profit of 340bn yen in its financial year, which runs from April 2010 to March 2011.
In July, there were 5,762 new Toyotas registered in the UK which represented 4.22% of the total market. This time last year they registered 7,547 which was 4.80% of the market (-23.65%).
Operating income improved year on year in all regions for the first quarter. In Europe, operating loss improved by ¥13.6bn to a loss of ¥6.8bn. Operating income in Asia increased by ¥63.3bn to ¥90.2bn. In Japan, operating loss improved by ¥184.5bn to ¥27.5bn.
In North America, operating income increased by 113.4bn yen to 109.7bn yen including 700 million yen of valuation gains/losses from interest rate swaps. Operating income, excluding the impact of valuation gains/losses from interest rate swaps, increased by 125.1 billion yen to 109.0 billion yen. In Central and South America, Oceania and Africa, operating income increased by 23.6 billion yen to 41.0 billion yen.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK (TMUK)
Production of the Auris Hybrid commenced in July at Toyota’s Burnaston plant in Derby. TMUK is to produce 30,000 Auris Hybrids annually, with sales of the vehicle having begun July 1.
Toyota is expecting that the Auris gasoline-electric hybrid will account for 25% of the compact car’s sales in Europe.
Regaining trust
Toyota was already struggling with the financial crisis that hit global demand for vehicles, when it was forced to issue a string of recalls because of safety problems.
The company has recalled about 10 million vehicles globally in the past year for various problems including faulty floor mats, sticky accelerator pedals, braking software glitches and steering malfunctions.
Its reputation has taken a hammering, particularly in the US where it is facing hundreds of lawsuits.
“We will try to regain trust from our customers as quickly as possible and we will continue our effort to improve sales,” said senior managing director Takahiko Ijichi.
