Less affected by the dispute, Toyota hiked its profit forecast to 780 billion
yen for the same period, up from 760 billion yen, although it trimmed its
annual sales forecast to 21.3 trillion yen.
A strong yen and uncertainty in China and Europe dented Japan’s automakers,
with Toyota largely crediting its better profit outlook to cost-cutting,
including a decrease in labour, research and development expenses.
Honda has blamed the ongoing territorial row – and a strong yen – for a 20pc
cut to its annual profit forecast.
The long-standing row flared again in September when Tokyo nationalised an
East China Sea island chain that is also claimed by Beijing, setting off
huge demonstrations across China and the consumer boycott.
Japanese factories and businesses across China temporarily closed or scaled
back operations over fears of being targeted by angry mobs.
The tension prompted Nissan’s chief executive Carlos Ghosn to warn that the
firm would think twice about making new investments. It has several
production plants in China with a new factory in the northeastern city of
Dalian planned for 2014.
On the production side, Toyota said it made 9.9m vehicles last year, up
26.1pc, while Nissan posted a 5.5pc production increase to 4.88m units in
2012.
Japanese firms have also struggled with the high yen which hurts manufacturers
by making their products less competitive overseas and shrinking repatriated
foreign income, hitting efforts to cement a recovery after the 2011 natural
disasters.
The yen hit record highs around 75 against the dollar in late 2011 and
remained strong through most of last year until Japan’s new conservative
government swept to power last month, vowing to fix the nation’s
long-suffering economy.
Its promises to pressure the Bank of Japan for aggressive easing has weighed
on the yen, sending it on steep dive in recent months.
Toyota shares were down 0.57pc to 4,315 yen and Honda was off 0.58pc at 3,400
yen while Nissan bucked a fall in the broader market on Monday by closing up
2.4pc at 895 yen.
Source: AFP
Source Article from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/9831171/Toyota-regains-crown-as-worlds-biggest-car-maker.html
