Japan's biggest car maker now expects operating profit to increase 10 per cent on the year to ¥2.2 trillion.
Boosted by a weaker yen and strong sales at home, Toyota lifted its full-year profit forecast by 10 per cent after posting its best quarterly operating profit in two years.
Japan's biggest car maker now expects operating profit to increase 10 per cent on the year to ¥2.2 trillion (Dh74.29 billion), from ¥1.99 tn a year earlier and marking an upgrade from its previous forecast of ¥2tn.
Up from a previous forecast for ¥1.95tn and on track for a record high, It expects net profit to come in at ¥2.4tn.
For the third quarter, Toyota posted ¥673.6bn in operating profit for October-December, a 54 per cent jump from a year earlier. The result exceeded a mean estimate of ¥527.22bn taken from 11 analysts polled by Reuters, and was its highest since October-December 2015.
While the automaker posted lower sales in North America, its biggest market, where it is struggling with heavy discounting as it tries to produce and sell larger vehicles, Operating profit in Japan more than doubled as vehicle sales rose at home.
From October to December, Toyota sold 2.63 million vehicles globally, up from 2.28 million a year prior. Sales in Japan rose 3 per cent, while sales North America fell to 735,000 from 745,000 units. Operating profit in North America tumbled 53.1 per cent. Sales in Europe rose 1.7 per cent.
In the United States Toyota has had a bumpy ride, its biggest market where it trails only General Motors and Ford in terms of sales, as car makers continue to angle for higher market share as overall sales retreat from a record high hit in 2016.
