Toyota raises full-year profit outlook by 9% to 4.7 trillion yen, to establish EV, battery unit in China

TOYOTA Motor raised its full-year operating profit forecast by 9 per cent on Wednesday, in a sign of confidence in its ability to ride out any potential US tariffs.

The world’s top-selling automaker raised its profit forecast for the current year through March 2025 to 4.7 trillion yen (S$41.5 billion) versus 4.3 trillion yen expected previously.

The upward revision took into account progress in strengthening its earnings power, backed by efforts to improve the competitiveness of its products, Toyota said in presentation materials.

Toyota made the revision despite posting a weaker-than-expected result for the third quarter, its second successive quarterly profit decline.

Operating profit for the three months through December totalled 1.22 trillion yen, down 28 per cent from 1.68 trillion yen a year earlier and compared with the 1.42 trillion yen average of nine analyst estimates in an LSEG poll.

Over recent quarters, its profit was pushed higher by strong hybrid vehicle demand in the US and other major markets.

Last week, Toyota reported global group unit sales of 10.8 million vehicles for 2024, making it the world’s best-selling automaker for a fifth successive year.

New Shanghai unit

It will establish a wholly owned company in Shanghai to develop and produce electric vehicles and batteries for the Lexus brand, with production set to start in 2027, the world’s top-selling automaker said on Wednesday.

In a statement, Toyota said the unit would develop a new Lexus EV and that initial production capacity would be about 100,000 units a year. About 1,000 new jobs are planned in the start-up phase, it said.

Toyota also said it would partner with the Shanghai municipal government for carbon-neutral initiatives, aiming to “contribute to the Chinese government’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060”. REUTERS