NAGOYA (Bernama-Kyodo): Toyota Motor Corp on Monday reported a 4.7 per cent year-on-year increase in its global sales for the April-September period, driven by robust demand for hybrids in North America and China, despite the impact of higher tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, Kyodo News Agency reported.
The world's largest carmaker by volume sold 5,267,216 vehicles in the six months, renewing the record for the period for the first time in two years.
Global production increased 6.0 per cent to 4,985,122 vehicles, as domestic output climbed 3.4 per cent to 1,585,622, helped by a rebound following a certification scandal last year, Toyota said.
By region, sales in the United States surged 11.3 per cent to 1,295,606 vehicles on strong demand for hybrid vehicles. Sales rebounded after recalls forced production stoppages of some models.
Sales in China rose 5.5 per cent to 914,342 units, despite fierce price competition and the market's wider shift to electric vehicles, thanks to strong demand for its new EV model and hybrids, Toyota said.
But domestic sales edged down 0.4 per cent to 713,967 units amid an ongoing recovery from a fall caused by a recall of the popular Prius hybrid.
For September, global sales rose 3.1 per cent to 879,314 vehicles, increasing year on year for the ninth straight month. Global output surged 11.1 per cent to 918,146 units, a record high for the month.
Still, the higher US auto tariff has cast a shadow over the profit outlook for the automaker, the world's largest by volume.
For the current fiscal year through March 2026, Toyota has forecast its net profit to drop 44.2 per cent to 2.66 trillion yen (US$17 billion) as the higher US auto tariff is not expected to be completely offset by cost-cutting and an increase in sales of higher-margin models.
In April, the Trump administration imposed a tariff of 27.5 per cent on foreign-made cars, far higher than the previous 2.5 per cent, in an effort to reduce the country's massive trade deficit. The rate on vehicles from Japan was negotiated down to 15 per cent in September.
Given the challenging market conditions linked to the higher US tariffs, Toyota has sought to enhance its earnings by reducing dependence on the North American market, instead focusing on expanding in China and other Asian markets. - Bernama-Kyodo
