TOKYO — Toyota said Thursday its fiscal-first-quarter profit plummeted 28 percent and stuck to its forecast that its full-year profit will fall for the first time in seven years as it faces more problems from the weakening U.S. market.
Toyota, which had been riding on the success of its fuel-efficient cars, has consistently posted growing profit since it started reporting under U.S. accounting standards. And there’s no previous comparable data that shows its annual profit has ever fallen.
But sliding North American sales, a strong yen and rising materials costs have battered the earnings of Japan’s top automaker, which is on track to end ailing General Motors’ 77-year reign as the world’s top automaker.
Toyota does not rely as much on truck and sport utility vehicle sales as its U.S. competitors and so far has avoided the kinds of deep losses racked up by GM and Ford But the company still is seeing its momentous sales growth slow amid a U.S. economic downturn and soaring gas prices.
Koji Endo, auto analyst for Credit Suisse in Tokyo, said that while Toyota is boosting sales in new markets such as China, it can’t make up for the shortfall in giant markets like the U.S., Europe and Japan.
“The situation is extremely tough for Toyota,” he said. “If the currency fluctuation doesn’t go in its favor, it’s going to be in even deeper trouble.”
Toyota said its April-June profit fell to $3.23 billion from nearly $4.50 billion in the same period a year earlier. The strengthening yen, which eats away at the profits of Japanese exporters, cost Toyota $1.8 billion in the latest quarter, the company said.
