Toyota, record profits in fiscal year: close to EUR 30 billion

Accelerating post-Covid demand and the devaluation of the yen pushed Toyota's profits to record levels in the fiscal year that ended in March. The net profit of the world's leading car manufacturer stood at 4,940 billion yen, or 29.6 billion euro. Operating profit was 5.352 billion yen (32 billion euro), an improvement of about 96%, on total revenues of 45095 billion yen (about 300 billion euro). The number of vehicles sold was 9.44 million (+7%), while Toyota and Lexus accounted for 10.3 million (+7.3%).

For the current fiscal year, however, the carmaker estimates a 27.8% slowdown in profits to ¥3,570 billion and total sales of 10.95 million units, down slightly from the 11 million recorded in the previous fiscal year.

A few weeks ago, the Japanese giant had in fact announced a drop in global sales, mainly due to the slowdown in China and on the domestic market: the slump in demand in Japan, in particular, is the result of the safety test tampering scandal that has engulfed the subsidiary Daihatsu (the group also includes Lexus and Hino).

CEO Koji Sato, who took over last year from President Akio Toyoda, focused on containing the consequences and restoring customer confidence.

The company also announced a buyback plan of up to 1 trillion yen, or about 3 per cent, of its shares.