TOKYO — Toyota said Tuesday that its profit had slumped 39 percent in its third quarter from a year earlier, weighed down by slow sales at home and the strong yen.
Still, the company raised its profit forecast for its fiscal year, which ends in March, citing bigger-than-expected sales in emerging markets. Toyota reported profit for the October-to-December quarter of $1.14 billion, hurt by declining sales in Japan after the government ended subsidies for environmentally friendly cars.
That helped push Toyota’s overall global sales down 11.7 percent.
Toyota shares jumped 4.7 percent in early trading today in Tokyo, following a U.S. government report that ruled out electronic flaws in runaway Toyota vehicles.
The automaker raised its forecast for global auto sales for this fiscal year to 7.48 million vehicles from 7.41 million. In 2010, Toyota led global vehicle sales for the third consecutive year, despite a strong turnaround by General Motors after its bankruptcy.
The yen, which remains near a 15-year high, continues to sap Toyota’s profitability, however. A strong yen erodes the value of its overseas earnings and makes its Japanese-made cars more expensive overseas.
“There is no magic bullet” for Toyota in overcoming currency woes, said Takahiko Ijichi, senior managing director at Toyota. The New York Times
