Toyota loses $819 million in quarter

[rickaren]

Toyota loses $819 million in quarter

Posted Tuesday, Aug 4, 2009, 1:38 pm in Employee News

Toyota Motor Corp. reported a smaller than expected loss of 77.8 billion yen ($819 million) between April 1 and June 30, as sales fell sharply throughout the world and a strong yen inflated the automaker’s loss in its largest market, the United States, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Worldwide sales for the recently completed quarter fell 38.3 percent to 3.84 trillion ($40.4 billion), the paper reported. A year earlier, the world’s largest automaker earned a profit of 353.6 billion yen, or $3.7 billion, the Free Press said.

The results were slightly better than expected the paper said. For the full fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, Toyota now expects to lose 450 billion yen ($4.7 billion), better than its previous outlook, which called for a loss of 550 billion yen ($5.8 billion).

Japan’s government is offering $2,500 in cash for anyone replacing a car that is more than 13 years old. The incentive is aimed at boosting demand for cars in Japan from what is expected to be a 32-year low of 4.3 million vehicles, the story said. (Automotive News)