Hit by scandal, Japan's top automaker Toyota reports lower profits

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota’s July-September profit sank to less than half of what it was in the same period the previous year, as a production stoppage that followed a certification scandal and recalls dented vehicle sales, the Japanese automaker said Wednesday.

Toyota Motor Corp.’s quarterly profit through September totaled 573.7 billion yen ($3.7 billion), down from nearly 1.28 trillion yen the same quarter last year.

Quarterly sales revenue rose slightly to 11.44 trillion yen ($75 billion) from 11.43 trillion yen.

Toyota, which makes the Camry sedan and Lexus luxury models, apologized and suspended production on some models after acknowledging wide-ranging fraudulent testing, including the use of inadequate or outdated data in crash tests, as well as incorrect testing of airbag inflation.

Fraudulent tests were also found at Toyota group makers Hino Motors and Daihatsu Motor Co.

Toyota sold more than 11 million vehicles globally the previous fiscal year. Toyota now expects to sell 10.85 million vehicles for this fiscal year through March.

For the latest quarter, Toyota sold 2.3 million vehicles globally, down from 2.4 million vehicles.

Toyota officials promised to do better by investing more in “human resources and growth areas,” while pursuing what the automaker calls “multi-pathway,” meaning it will push hybrids and fuel cells as well as electric vehicles, depending on market tastes.

Such investment in people will extend to its subsidiaries and supply chains, they said. Vehicle production will recover in the second half of the fiscal year, according to Toyota.

Japan production declined in the fiscal first half because of “the need to address the certification issues and taking time to reexamine our manufacturing environment and culture,” Chief Financial Officer Yoichi Miyazaki told reporters.

Toyota production at its U.S. Indiana plant was halted temporarily for recalls but is back up from last month, he said.

Toyota, based in Toyota city, central Japan, stuck to its full fiscal year forecast for a 3.57 trillion yen ($23 billion) profit, down from 4.94 trillion yen racked up the previous fiscal year.

Among the Japanese automakers, Honda Motor Co. reports financial results later in the day, while Nissan Motor Co. releases them Thursday.

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Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://x.com/yurikageyama