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Toyota hacks forecasts, US carmakers seek help  |
TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corporation, the world’s No.1 automaker, yesterday warned operating profits will sink to a 13-year low this year, as other carmakers sought more state help to ride out a financial crisis that is crippling demand and squeezing credit around the globe.
After a week of profit warnings from six of the seven other Japanese car makers, industry watchers had braced for similar pain at Toyota — until recently the envy of the sector with eight straight years of profit growth.
But a 63% cut in forecast operating profit, to 600bn yen ($6.1bn), was far beyond the most pessimistic prediction, and sent Toyota shares traded in the US down 17.5%.
It would be Toyota’s lowest profit since 1995-96, and down 74% from a record 2.2tn yen last year.
Meanwhile, General Motors warned this week that the industry’s prospects are dwindling fast as a “near collapse” in demand for cars accelerates the pace of cash burn.
The chief executives of Detroit’s Big Three – GM, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler LLC – are scheduled to lobby US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the need for new and immediate aid, on top of $25bn in loans sought from the outgoing Bush administration. – Reuters
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