Toyota Motor, the world’s biggest automaker, is expected to suffer a second consecutive annual loss because of the global economic slump and a stronger yen, Japan’s Nikkei daily reported yesterday.
Toyota’s group operating loss may top ¥500 billion (US$5 billion) for the current fiscal year, which started on April 1, the business daily said.
It would be the second straight operating loss, as the company has already warned that it expects an operating loss of ¥450 billion, its first ever, for the fiscal year to March 31.
PHOTO: AP
Revenue for the current year is expected to fall to around ¥20 trillion, down from an estimated ¥21 trillion for the year before, the Nikkei said.
Toyota group auto sales are now estimated at 6.5 million vehicles for the fiscal year just started — which, if confirmed, would be the first time they have fallen below 7 million units, it said.
That forecast is mainly because of a delay in recovery of the US auto industry, with the Japanese and European auto markets also expected to remain stagnant and the impact of a strong yen against the dollar and the euro.
NOT COMPETITIVE
A strong yen lowers the competitiveness of Japanese products overseas.
Toyota overtook General Motors last year to become the world’s top-selling automaker, but only because the US giant’s sales fell faster than its own.
The Japanese company has moved to lower production, cut jobs and appointed a new president from its founding family, Akio Toyoda, to replace Katsuaki Watanabe in response to the crisis, its biggest ever.
The company’s US division will also bring back a former top executive from retirement, as the world’s top automaker saw its US sales fall 39 percent last month, worse than the industrywide decline, Autodata Corp said.
NEW ROLE
Yoshi Inaba, 63, will return to a position at Toyota’s US operations, but his new role has not yet been identified, Mike Michels, vice president of communications at Toyota Motor Sales USA, said on Thursday.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
RSS