Japan's Toyota said today that its net profit for the nine months to December nearly quadrupled despite a 39% fall in the third quarter, and upped its net profit forecast for the year.
The maker of the popular Prius petrol-electric hybrid raised its annual net profit forecast to 490 billion yen ($5.95 billion) from an earlier 350 billion yen, joining rival Honda in lifting its profit outlook on expectations of strong demand in emerging markets despite seeing third quarter profit dive.
Japan's car makers have been hit by the impact of a strong yen on operations, making their products more expensive compared to overseas rivals with comparatively cheaper domestic currencies.
The expiration of Japanese government subsidies to encourage consumers to buy more environmentally friendly cars in September last year has also hit domestic demand.
Toyota saw third quarter net profit plunge to 93.6 billion yen from 153.2 billion yen a year earlier. However, the world's biggest car maker said net profit for the nine months to December soared 293.7% to 382.7 billion yen.
Analysts say the car maker is under pressure to regain consumer trust overseas, particularly in the US, after a crisis involving millions of recalls, a wave of lawsuits and record fines.
Last year ended with Toyota losing market share to rivals in the US - its second largest market by volume - even as overall sales recovered. Previously lauded for its vehicles' safety, Toyota became mired in crisis when it recalled nearly nine million vehicles between late 2009 and February last year on brake and accelerator defects blamed for dozens of deaths.
As criticism mounted of its slow response and bureaucratic inflexibility, Toyota tightened its recall policy and by January had pulled around 16 million units since late 2009 over a range of issues.
The car maker last month said it will recall 1.7 million vehicles worldwide over concerns about possible fuel leakages, in the latest setback for the troubled auto giant.
