Copyright kyodonews
NAGOYA - Toyota Motor Corp. on Monday reported a 4.7 percent year-on-year increase in its global sales for the April-September period, driven by robust demand for hybrids in North America and China, despite the impact of higher tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. The world's largest carmaker by volume sold 5,267,216 vehicles in the six months, renewing the record for the period for the first time in two years. Global production increased 6.0 percent to 4,985,122 vehicles, as domestic output climbed 3.4 percent to 1,585,622, helped by a rebound following a certification scandal last year, Toyota said. By region, sales in the United States surged 11.3 percent to 1,295,606 vehicles on strong demand for hybrid vehicles. Sales rebounded after recalls forced production stoppages of some models. Sales in China rose 5.5 percent to 914,342 units, despite fierce price competition and the market's wider shift to electric vehicles, thanks to strong demand for its new EV model and hybrids, Toyota said. But domestic sales edged down 0.4 percent to 713,967 units amid an ongoing recovery from a fall caused by a recall of the popular Prius hybrid. For September, global sales rose 3.1 percent to 879,314 vehicles, increasing year on year for the ninth straight month. Global output surged 11.1 percent to 918,146 units, a record high for the month. Still, the higher U.S. auto tariff has cast a shadow over the profit outlook for the automaker, the world's largest by volume. For the current fiscal year through March 2026, Toyota has forecast its net profit to drop 44.2 percent to 2.66 trillion yen ($17 billion) as the higher U.S. auto tariff is not expected to be completely offset by cost-cutting and an increase in sales of higher-margin models. In April, the Trump administration imposed a tariff of 27.5 percent on foreign-made cars, far higher than the previous 2.5 percent, in an effort to reduce the country's massive trade deficit. The rate on vehicles from Japan was negotiated down to 15 percent in September. Toyota's full-year sales record came at over 10.3 million units in fiscal 2023, with 80 percent of transactions overseas. Given the challenging market conditions linked to the higher U.S. tariffs, Toyota has sought to enhance its earnings by reducing dependence on the North American market, instead focusing on expanding in China and other Asian markets.
