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Toyota racks up $18-billion profit

Toyota is looking strong at the end of the fiscal year with its net revenue showing six percent growth to the equivalent of $227 billion. Operating income grew to $23 billion in that period, a 20-percent jump, and net income increased to $18.1 billion, a 19-percent advancement. The company attributes the positive numbers to cost reductions and the weak yen compared to other currencies. Toyota increased its operating income in every major region, but despite these ballooning figures, total sales globally actually fell slightly to almost 9 million – 144,149 fewer than last year. The automaker's biggest division in terms of units was North America, and it accounted for 2.7-million vehicles during the fiscal year. Operating income amounted to $4.5 billion there. Meanwhile, Japan ranked as the most lucrative territory. Sales there fell by about 200,000 vehicles to a total of 2.15 million. However, operating income for the fiscal year more than doubled to $13.1 billion. In its forecasts for the next fiscal year, Toyota predicts global sales to remain roughly the same as this year at 8.9 million vehicles. Net revenue and net income are expected to make slight gains, though. Related Video: TMC Announces Financial Results for Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2015 (All consolidated financial information has been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles) Toyota City, Japan, May 8, 2015-Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) today announces its financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. Consolidated vehicle sales totaled 8,971,864 units, a decrease of 144,169 units compared to the previous fiscal year. On a consolidated basis, net revenues for the period totaled 27.23 trillion yen, an increase of 6.0 percent. Operating income increased from 2.2921 trillion yen to 2.7505 trillion yen, while income before income taxes1 was 2.8928 trillion yen. Net income2 increased from 1.8231 trillion yen to 2.1733 trillion yen. Operating income increased by 458.4 billion yen. Major factors contributing to the increase included currency fluctuations of 280.0 billion yen and cost reduction efforts of 280.0 billion yen.

Toyota, Daihatsu and Suzuki team up to unbox some fun-size electric kei vans

The G7 Summit is happening in Hiroshima, Japan, right now and some automakers have taken the opportunity to announce new projects. Toyota, their wholly owned subsidiary Daihatsu, and Suzuki (of which Toyota owns about 5%) made news with a trio of electric micro-vans built to kei car specifications. The battery-electric vans are part of an industry-wide push toward carbon neutrality. Kei-class vehicles, in addition to limited displacement gasoline engines, have strict dimensional restrictions that allow them to navigate the often narrow streets in dense urban areas. They're also privilege to certain tax breaks and parking benefits.  [gallery ids="2474953,2474954"] The engine size rules obviously don't apply to the electric vans, but they will still conform to the size boundaries. Kei vans are often used to solve the "last mile" problem in logistics since they're able to whiz around crowded streets inaccessible by larger commercial vehicles.  Daihatsu, which specializes in kei cars, will build the vans and name their variant the HiJet Cargo. The HiJet name has been a consistent one in the company's lineup since 1960, but these new versions will be front-wheel-drive in contrast to the rear-wheel-drive gasoline variants. Toyota's version will be called the Pixis Van, while Suzuki will be named the Every, a nameplate that's been around since 1982. Aside from the badges the vans appear identical. Range is said to be approximately 200km (124 miles) on a single charge.  The exhibition was held in conjunction with the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, which former Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda heads. Toyoda stepped down from the top position at the company his grandfather founded in April, but still takes a overseer role as Chairman. Toyoda was criticized for being slow to adopt EVs, and new CEO Koji Sato has emphasized the role of battery-electrics moving forward while still taking a multi-front approach to carbon neutrality with hydrogen and hybrids. These vans were likely in development before Toyoda's retirement, though.

Toyota reaffirms commitment to body-on-frame SUVs

Toyota sold 121,055 Highlander CUVs in 2012, according to Automotive News. By comparison, it sold 78,457 examples of four different body-on-frame, truck-based SUVs (4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Sequoia and Land Cruiser). One could argue then, that the traditional SUVs aren't pulling their weight from a sales perspective. Yet that isn't stopping Toyota from reaffirming its commitment to a segment that has seen its former champions - Ford, General Motors and Chrysler - abandon it with alarming speed. Ford and GM still offer body-on frame utilities, but only in the very largest offerings, catering to seven or even eight passengers. Everything outside of the Expedition or Tahoe rides now on a unibody.
Toyota's decision to stick with the technology is good news if you're in the market for smaller SUVs that are still capable of heading well off the beaten path. Outside of the Jeep Wrangler, Grand Cherokee (a unibody) and perhaps Nissan Xterra, there's not much in terms of capable SUVs between $20,000 and $50,000. As the Toyota brand's US head, Bill Fay, says, "Clearly, the trend has shifted, but there is still an owner base that is interested in these vehicles."
We don't doubt Fay on that, but it may also be somewhat telling that Toyota's SUV lineup is aging, and we haven't seen or heard much about replacement models in the pipeline. Admittedly, the 4Runner (pictured) has been facelifted for 2014, but it's mostly cosmetic in nature. Despite Toyota's posturing, we still expect its body-on-frame lineup to thin in the coming years as sales dwindle and escalating fuel-economy standards make business cases even tougher. Here's hoping that Toyota manages to keep at least one rough-and-tumble SUV in its lineup in the coming years.