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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 struggling in Latin American market, attempting recovery

With uncertainty in the US and Chinese markets, automakers are scrambling to rev up their efforts in what were traditionally secondary markets. Take Toyota's efforts in Latin America. A recent story from The Wall Street Journal highlights the Japanese brand's push in the southern hemisphere, particularly in Brazil, where it has expanded its operations and installed new executives with a greater range of powers, all in a bid to grab a bigger slice of the ever-growing South American pie.
South America is dominated by General Motors, Fiat and Volkswagen, which maintain a combined 60 percent of the market share - Toyota holds a mere 4.5 percent. The WSJ spoke with Steve St. Angelo, Toyota's boss in Latin America, who said, "We are playing catch up, but we're catching up fast. We now have the resources to give the region the attention it really needs and deserves."
That attention includes an all-new, locally produced small car called the Etios. As bewildering as it seems, Toyota wasn't competing in the low-cost economy car market in South America. With the Etios, which arrived in September of 2012, its sales in the first seven months of 2013 are up 75 percent.

Chrysler, Nissan minivans earn 'dire' crash test results, says IIHS [w/video]

First introduced in 2012, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's small-overlap frontal crash test has become the bane of many auto engineers' existence. It's a particularly steep design challenge because it forces just 25 percent of a vehicle's front end to take the brunt of a 40-mile-per-hour impact. The newly released results of four family-minded minivans underscore just how difficult the crash test is: only one scored an Acceptable rating, and the other three did very poorly. The 2008-2015 Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan, plus the 2011-2015 Nissan Quest, all received Poor ratings in the test, the IIHS' lowest possible score. The three of them showed significant crash intrusion into the driver's area. The dummy in the Nissan actually had to be cut out of the vehicle, with an IIHS spokesperson remarking, "the structure collapsed like a house of cards." In the Fiat Chrysler Automobile vans, the steering wheels moved out of the way, making the airbag less effective and letting the driver's head hit the dashboard. While it was not actually crashed, the agency is also giving the 2009-12 Volkswagen Routan a Poor score because it shares a structure with the FCA models. The newly released results of four minivans underscore just how difficult the small-offset crash test is. The refreshed 2015 Toyota Sienna (shown), conversely, earned an Acceptable rating and is also a Top Safety Pick+ because of its optional forward collision warning and automatic braking system. While the crash test dummy moved around during the impact more than the agency would have liked, sensors showed a low risk of injuries. The IIHS tested the Honda Odyssey last year, and it earned a Good overall score, the agency's best ranking. It's also a Top Safety Pick+ vehicle. The only member of the minivan segment left to test is the latest Kia Sedona, and the Institute is reportedly waiting a little longer for Kia to make changes to improve the model's performance. When reached for comment, Nissan spokesperson Steve Yaeger provided Autoblog with the following statement: "Nissan is committed to vehicle safety and believes that consumers should have information about crash protection so they can make educated buying decisions. Nissan is proud of the 2014 Quest's "good" rating in the IIHS front moderate overlap and side impact tests as well as a "good" head restraint rating.