Toyota said on Oct. 25 that said both lower domestic sales and exports caused the company to suffered the first drop in production in a year. The figures come as a report said the company was facing a near $2 billion hit as it revises down its dollar forecast, with the greenback sitting at 15-year lows against the yen.
The Yomiuri daily reported on Oct. 25 that Toyota would revise its dollar forecast for the second half of the current business year to March to 80 yen, which will mean a $1.85 billion hit to its earnings. Toyota's annual earnings decline 30 billion yen on every one yen increase against the dollar, the report said.
Toyota's worldwide production, excluding output by Daihatsu and Hino subsidiaries, fell 1.3% from a year earlier to 672,604 units in September, marking the first year-on-year fall in 12 months.
Domestic production in Japan fell 1.4% from a year earlier to 305,853 units, the first drop in 11 months. Sales in Japan shrank for the first time in 14 months on the expiration of government incentives for buyers, falling 6.3% to 133,843 units.
"Domestic sales have been soft as the government subsidies (to purchase energy-saving vehicles) expired" in early September, Toyota spokeswoman Shiori Hashimoto said, adding exports also decreased.
Exports tumbled 11% to 148,836 units, the first drop in nine months, due to decreased exports to North America, Europe and the Middle East as stable gasoline prices reduced demand for fuel sipping hybrids, she said.
Shipments to Europe fell on the expiration of government incentives to replace old cars with newer, environment-friendly models in France, Britain and Italy, she said.
However, Toyota's smaller rivals reported robust figures for both production and exports. Nissan Motor said its global production soared 27% to 395,658 units, a record for a single month, as exports rose 38.3%. Honda said worldwide production rose 9.2% to 328,368 with exports surging 67.1%
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010
