Toyota showroom in Tokyo
Toyota raised its full-year profit forecast on Thursday, following a strong quarter in which it weathered production cuts caused by a chip shortage and supply chain issues in pandemic-hit Southeast Asia.
The world’s best-selling automaker now expects a net profit of 2.49 trillion yen ($21.8 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 2022, up from 2.3 trillion yen previously.
However, it maintained its annual sales forecast of 30 trillion yen.
“Global production volume declined, but our suppliers, plants, and dealers worked hard to supply as many cars as possible,” the Japanese conglomerate said.
Net profit increased 33.2 percent to 626.7 billion yen in the July-September second quarter on sales of which was up from 6.8 trillion yen a year before.
Toyota recovered faster than its competitors from the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns, reclaiming the sales lead last year.
However, it has been harmed by the global chip shortage that is afflicting automakers worldwide.
While the company appeared to be better positioned than some competitors to weather the shortage, thanks in part to supply chain preparation, it eventually found itself struggling to meet production targets as well.
As a result, Toyota reduced output by approximately 550,000 units from July to September and will continue to reduce output during the current quarter.