hurray for toyota and the corolla!!

hurray for toyota and the corolla!!

Toyota's Profit Sets Japanese Record
Toyota's Yearly Profit Surges 55 Percent; First Japan Co. to Earn More Than 1 Trillion Yen in Year

TOKYO May 11, 2004 — Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday its profit for the latest fiscal year surged 55 percent, making Japan's biggest automaker the nation's first company to earn more than 1 trillion yen in a single year.

Toyota said its record earnings performance for the year ended in March reflected booming sales in nearly all regions across the world. It expects sales gains again this year.

Toyota's group net profit totaled 1.16 trillion yen ($10.2 billion), up from its previous record profit of 751 billion yen a year ago.

Sales climbed 12 percent to 17.3 trillion yen ($152 billion) from it previous high mark of 15.5 trillion yen in fiscal 2002.

Toyota sold 6.7 million vehicles around the world, up nearly 10 percent from 6.1 million a year ago. Sales in North America reached 2.1 million vehicles, an increase of 121,000 over the previous year, on the popularity of Lexus luxury models and the Corolla compact.
Toyota's sales in Europe rose to 898,000 vehicles, an increase of 122,000, led by the Yaris sedan and Corolla. Sales in other regions, including Asia and the Middle East, rose by 277,000 vehicles to 1.41 million. Even in the lagging Japanese market, Toyota managed to gain market share.

"Toyota is on a roll, boosting sales in America, Europe and Asia," said Takaki Nakanishi, analyst at UBS Securities in Tokyo. "Once an automaker becomes a winner like this, it's likely to stay that way for a while."

Toyota, which does not give consolidated financial forecasts, said Tuesday that vehicle sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005, will rise to 7.02 million vehicles.

It plans to spend 680 billion yen ($6 billion) in research and development, and an additional 990 billion yen ($8.7 billion) in capital investment in fiscal 2004.

For the latest fiscal year, Toyota had gains of 230 billion yen ($2 billion) from cost-reduction efforts and 107 billion yen ($943 million) in reimbursement for a government pension fund. Those gains more than offset the negative impact of 140 billion yen ($1.2 billion) due to to an unfavorable exchange rate.

A strong yen hurts Japanese exporters like Toyota by chipping away the value of its overseas earnings and making its products more expensive abroad. The dollar cost 113 yen in fiscal 2003, down from 122 yen a year ago, according to Toyota.

Toyota President Fujio Cho said profitability improved because production reached full capacity at its subsidiaries.

"Clearly we are benefiting from our efforts to strengthen our overseas operations and create a global business model that is more resistant to market fluctuations and currency exchange risk," he said.

On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Toyota shares finished unchanged at 3,760 yen ($33) Tuesday shortly before earnings were announced.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Business/ap20040511_629.html?MONEYSCOPEad=true

your welcome Toyota!

haha o ya dont mess with toyota. Its good to know our company is staying strong. So now that they're even more loaded, SUPRA NOW?

It's good to hear someone else doing good other than Honda for a change. Good design and concepts with a proven reputation help make them successful.

Honda gets no respect in Japan, with the exception of the ITR. I lived there for 3 years and NOONE drives them. I never once saw a modded civic.

heh...people think i'm crazy when i tell them this...i was in japan in 2001...i hardly saw any hondas on the road...Toyota and Nissan clearly dominate the market over there...even all the taxi's are old toyota Mark II's and nissan cedrics I remember seeing like 1 crx and a couple of integras while i was there...that was about it hehe

tho in japan i believe honda is better known for their motorcycles than their cars