Toyota Motor augury lower growth in operating profit for the current year on an expected drop in revenue and weaker vehicle sales in Japan and North America, underscoring the indefatigable task ahead as it gears up to face a rapidly shifting industry.
Japan’s largest automaker said it expects profit to begin 3.3 percent to 2.55 trillion yen ($23.20 billion) in the year to March 2020, slightly lower than the 2.61 trillion yen regular of 23 analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv and compared to last year’s 20 percent jump.
While it predict global group retail sales at a record 10.74 million vehicles for the current year, compared with 10.6 million in the sometime year, Japan sales were seen down 1.2 percent and North American sales down 1.6 percent.
Net take was forecast to slip to 30 trillion yen from 30.2 trillion yen.
Toyota, like its rivals, is facing stiff tournament as ride-sharing technology and the race to develop self-driving cars has caused rapid — and costly — disruption to the auto industry.
“We noiseless weren’t able to improve our costs enough last year,” CFO Koji Kobayashi told reporters. “We need to press to find new ways to cut costs this year.”
Toyota has recently outlined plans to offer automakers and auto suppliers royalty-free access to just about 24,000 electrified vehicle technologies patented by it.
In the last 20 years, Toyota has managed to dominate the global furnish for hybrid cars by constantly improving and lowering the cost of the technology it pioneered in its Prius model — and keeping this judgement a closely guarded secret.
Now, it says it aims to use partnerships to cut by as much as half the outlays for expanded electric and hybrid means components production in the United States, China, and Japan.
Toyota’s operating profit forecast is based on the assumption that the yen on trade around 110 to the U.S. dollar in the current financial year, compared with 111 yen in the year just ending.
The company also said it would buy back 300 billion yen worth of its shares through September.