Toyota Earns Record Profit Despite Production Challenges

Despite difficulty due to a major dispute around vehicle certification and production concerns, Toyota is making great financial gains. Toyota’s financial results for the April–June first quarter of Japan’s fiscal year 2025 showed stability and growth.

Record Profit

With a record quarterly profit of $8.9 billion (1.33 trillion yen), the automaker outperformed the previous year by 1.7%. The main reason for this achievement is the Japanese yen’s depreciation, which has increased revenues earned abroad. In addition, the company’s sales for the first quarter of 2019 increased by 12% year over year to a record $79 billion (11.8 trillion yen).

Despite this, Toyota’s worldwide sales decreased by 1.9% during this time. The effects were more noticeable in Japan, where problems with vehicle certification caused the manufacture of several models to be temporarily halted, causing a 14% decline in sales.

The Japanese certification issue resulted in Toyota having to stop the manufacture of some models. Since then, the company has apologized and is working to normalize production. The recent surge in the yen’s value relative to the US dollar, which saw it rise beyond 160 yen and then fall below 150 yen, helped Toyota’s operating profit to rise by $2.5 billion (370 billion yen). Operational profit increased by $367 million (55 billion yen) because of cost-cutting measures.

Sales in The US

Meanwhile, sales in North America increased by 14.3% in the first half of the year to offset the total loss, exceeding expectations. Toyota’s performance varies throughout its models in the US. Sales of the new Crown model were 14,032 through June, but sales of the Tacoma and Highlander had decreased by over 40%. Camry sales climbed by 3% to 155,242 units, indicating the car’s continued appeal. With the Highlander being the exception, SUVs were the company’s best-selling vehicles, with sales rising by at least 30% overall. With 248,295 sales in the first half of the year, the RAV4 led the competition.

As sales of previously discontinued vehicles, such as the Yaris Cross and certain Corolla grades, resume and Japan’s auto certification issues are fixed, Toyota expects higher sales in the future. The company is still of the opinion that the weakening yen will support its future financial results, which could result in even higher earnings in the upcoming quarter.