The Toyota Germany headquarters in Cologne. dpa
When presenting its annual figures on Wednesday, Toyota is expected to announce strong sales growth, which comes primarily from the car maker’s strong hybrid business, reports “Reuters”. The encouraging hybrid figures come amid a lull in the electric car market. In February, Toyota increased its operating profit expectations to the equivalent of $31.87 billion – it would be a company record.
The champagne corks are likely to be popping at Toyota these days. The Reuters news agency reports that the Japanese car maker will announce strong sales growth on Wednesday. The reason is strong sales figures for its hybrid cars, which are defying the slump on the electric market. What’s more, in February, the Japanese automaker raised its profit forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31 to 4.9 trillion yen ($31.87 billion). It would be a record profit and an increase of 80 percent compared to the previous year.
However, the current record figures belie the significant challenges the company faces in critical markets. In China, Toyota is in the middle of a bitter price war with Chinese competitors. In the US, they are facing a slowdown in consumption as consumers struggle with higher borrowing costs. In addition, a safety testing scandal at the Daihatsu compact car division has damaged sales in Japan and the Toyota Group’s reputation for quality and safety.
While Toyota is strong in hybrids, it remains a laggard in electric vehicles, falling far behind Tesla. Electric vehicles accounted for only one percent of global sales last year, or around 116,500 vehicles, which is well below the previously announced target of 202,000 vehicles.