TOKYO: Toyota on Wednesday posted a forecast-beating net profit of $6.8 billion for the three months to December, at the same time as a world chip crunch and a pandemic-driven elements shortage compelled manufacturing cuts.

The Japanese auto large, which stored its crown because the world’s top-selling carmaker in 2021, left its annual net profit outlook unchanged however barely lowered its full-year automobile gross sales and manufacturing targets.

It posted a 791.7 billion yen net profit for October-December, down 5.6 % on-year however much better than the 619.2 billion predicted by Bloomberg analysts.

For the 9 months to December, the agency logged net profit of two.31 trillion yen — a bounce of 57.8 % from the earlier yr, when virus lockdowns battered the auto business. Quarterly gross sales rose by a fifth on-year.

“Despite negative factors such as constraints on supply due to the shortage of semiconductors and the spread of Covid-19, as well as the sharp rise in raw material costs, we achieved higher sales and profits” within the first 9 months of 2021-22, Toyota stated in an announcement.

A weaker yen, “supply chain efforts”, advertising initiatives and the attraction of its new merchandise contributed to the profit enhance, it added.

When Covid-19 first triggered a world drought of semiconductors — an integral part of contemporary vehicles — Toyota appeared higher positioned than its rivals to climate the crunch, having strengthened ties with its home suppliers after Japan’s 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

However with the disaster displaying no indicators of ending, the automaker has discovered itself unable to escape the results.

Toyota cited “operation instability” on a call to barely decrease its manufacturing projection for the yr to 8.5 million items from 9 million, having already decreased it from 9.3 million in November.

“Currently, customers have to wait for a very long time to receive our products,” Toyota acknowledged.

‘Adept’ procurement

It stated its manufacturing plans have been as “robust” as attainable however that the present challenges made it “very difficult” to predict future efficiency.

Satoru Takada, an auto analyst at analysis and consulting agency TIW, informed AFP that Toyota has to date weathered a troublesome yr.

“Sales have been strong” and the corporate “has been able to offer attractive vehicles”, he defined. “Its procurement ability, including from parts makers, remains very adept.”

However the fourth quarter might show tougher, he warned, as manufacturing cuts and “uncertain factors” could take their toll on Toyota’s backside line.

Toyota held on to its title because the world’s top-selling automaker final yr when it bought almost 10.5 million autos — a bounce of about 10 % from 2020, together with items made by its Daihatsu and Hino subsidiaries.

The agency elevated its lead over German rival Volkswagen, which shifted 8.9 million autos in 2021, down 4.5 % on-year owing to the chip drought.

Individually, smaller rival Honda additionally introduced strong earnings and upgraded its annual profit forecast, thanks to cost-cutting efforts, beneficial international change and the decrease value of gross sales.

For the 9 months to December, Honda’s net profit surged 31.1 % to 582.1 billion yen on gross sales of 10.68 trillion yen, up 11.8 %.

It upgraded its annual net profit forecast to 670 billion yen from an earlier projection for 555.0 billion yen. It lowered its gross sales forecast to 17.04 trillion yen from 17.50 trillion yen.

Honda stated the pandemic, rising uncooked materials prices and elements shortages, together with semiconductors, stay main challenges however pledged to lower prices and incentives to elevate its bottomline.