Showing posts with label Toyota. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toyota. Show all posts

Friday, July 1, 2011

Toyota to recall 110,000 hybrids

30 June 2011 Last updated at 04:00 GMT Toyota is moving more quickly to resolve its latest setback

The world's biggest carmaker Toyota is to recall more than 110,000 hybrid vehicles over concerns about a problem with the power supply circuit.

The Japanese carmaker said the recall involves the Highlander hybrid and Lexus RX400h models globally.

The vehicles could stop suddenly because of an electrical problem leading to a blown fuse, the company said in a statement.

Toyota has recalled almost 12 million vehicles in the past 18 months.

The latest recalls are taking place mainly in the US, Japan and Europe, with some in Canada, Australia and South Korea, Toyota said.

The company said it was "working on obtaining the necessary replacement parts" and would get in touch with customers to get their vehicles inspected soon.

"The recalls that we announced cover all known problems regarding the component concerned," Toyota spokesperson Paul Nolasco told the BBC.

"We apologise for the inconvenience caused to our customers and hope to be able [to fix the problem] as soon as possible," he added.

'Full blown crisis' While the recall is likely to raise further questions about Toyota's quality controls, analysts said the carmaker is trying to ensure that it nips the problem in the bud.

"The good news is, they are not allowing it to become a full-blown crisis," said Vivek Vaidya at research group Frost & Sullivan.

He said there had been instances in the past of Toyota saying there were no issues with its vehicles when customers and safety regulators were reporting faults.

He said Toyota was trying to avoid getting into a similar situation again.

Reliability vs. localisation

The recall is the latest in a series of setbacks for Toyota, which has recalled more than 12 million vehicles in the past 18 months.

Analysts say the quest for rapid expansion had led to cracks appearing in the company's quality control system.

As Toyota grew from a Japanese brand to the biggest carmaker in the world, it needed to boost its production in order to meet the increased demand for its cars.

Highlander hybrid Toyota has recalled millions of vehicles globally in the past 18 months due to safety concerns

That resulted in the company setting up factories in various parts of the world to ramp up production - factories analysts say may not have been able to maintain Toyota's high standards.

"There might have been seepages in terms of quality standards," said Mr Vaidya.

As a result, its reputation for quality and reliability has taken a hit, especially in America where it was the only major carmaker to see sales fall in 2010.

"They have lost their reputation. There is no point hiding or denying it," Mr Vaidya added.

Losing steam

The problems for Toyota have been compounded further by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Destruction caused by the twin disasters saw the carmaker suspend production, not only at its domestic plants but also at overseas factories.

As a result, earlier this month Toyota warned that its profits for the current financial year would fall by a third.

Analysts said the carmaker is now in danger of losing its position as the world's biggest carmaker.

"According to the various projections that we have, chances are very high that General Motors may regain its number one slot," Mr Vaidya said.

"They are on the up in the US and are doing very well in China and have revamped their line-up in other key markets like India.

"They are the only company that can challenge Toyota."


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Thursday, June 30, 2011

Moody's cuts Toyota credit rating

28 June 2011 Last updated at 09:09 GMT Workers give the final check to Toyota cars Toyota and other carmakers have been operating at reduced capacity since March's earthquake Car giant Toyota has had its credit rating cut by the ratings agency Moody's on worries that the strong yen and rising raw material costs will hit profitability.

Moody's cut the car maker's credit rating one notch to Aa3 from Aa2.

The ratings agency, which had put Toyota under review in April, said further cuts remained a possibility.

Toyota has faced major disruptions to its supply chain from the 11 March earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

"Toyota's profit recovery during the period of its financial year to March 2013 will not be as strong as preferred due to its declining markets share in various regions, the strong yen and high raw material prices," Moody's said in a statement.

A strong yen makes Japanese exporters less competitive, and Toyota is a larger exporter than its Japanese competitors Honda and Nissan.


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Thursday, June 16, 2011

Toyota forecasts slump in profits

10 June 2011 Last updated at 08:08 GMT Toyota factory in Japan Japanese car makers have been operating at reduced capacity due to a shortage of parts Japanese car giant Toyota has said it expects profits for this financial year to be sharply lower than last year, due in large part to the massive earthquake in March that disrupted production.

The carmaker forecast net profits of 280bn yen ($3.5bn; ?2.1bn) for the year to the end of March, down a third on the 408bn yen it made last year.

It said revenues would fall slightly to 8.2 trillion yen.

Toyota has said it hopes to return to 90% capacity in Japan this month.

Earthquake impact

Profits in the first half of the year would be hit particularly hard, the company said.

Thereafter, business is expected to pick up, although the effects of the earthquake and resulting tsunami would be felt for a long time, the world's largest carmaker said.

"The Japanese economy is expected to pick up gradually. However, the damage done by the Great East Japan Earthquake was widespread and serious, and will continue to affect the Japanese economy," the company said.

It added that emerging markets should continue expanding, particularly China and India, while more developed economies such as the US and those in Europe should "continue recovering at a modest pace".

However, it highlighted rising oil prices and high unemployment, particularly in the US, as key risks to future sales.

Slipping sales

Toyota said it expected to sell 7.24m vehicles during the full year, with 2.92m of those sold in the first six months.

In the calendar year 2010, Toyota sold 8.42m vehicles, just beating its closest rival General Motors, which sold 8.39m.

As a result of the earthquake, Toyota is likely to lose its position as the world's best-selling car brand, a position it has held since 2008.

Some analysts have speculated that it may even slip to third place behind Volkswagen, due in part to issues that existed before March's disaster.

"Toyota is in a period of restructuring its production after years of expansion," said Kazuyuki Murai at Plaza Asset Management in Tokyo.

"It is still not equipped with the ability to deal with rising demand in emerging markets. I think Toyota will be in for a sluggish period."

The earthquake also hit the carmaker's performance during the last financial year, with profits between January and March down 77% to 25.5bn yen from a year earlier.


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