Toyota books record profits in April-Dec. as cheap oil boosts U.S. sales

Toyota Motor Corp. on Friday said it had logged record profits during the nine months through December, rising 9.2 percent on year to 1.89 trillion yen (16.19 billion U.S. dollars) as brisk sales in its North American market helped widen the auto giant's margins.

The Aichi Prefecture-based automaker also said its operating profit leaped 9 percent to 2.31 trillion yen on sales of 21.43 trillion yen, climbing 6.5 percent compared to the same period a year earlier and marking a new record for the manufacturer.

Based on its significant uptick in both net and operating profits, the world's top automaker upwardly revised its net profit projection for the business year ending March 31, by 4.4 percent compared to last year, from initial estimates of 2.25 trillion yen, to 2.27 trillion yen.

Outlooks for the current business year in terms of operating profit were kept at 2.8 trillion yen, a rise of 1.8 percent and sales projections were held at a 1 percent increase at 27.5 trillion yen, Toyota said.

The maker of the ubiquitous Prius brand of hybrid cars and Corolla sedans said it shifted almost 6.5 million cars globally in the April-December period, with global sales expected to hit 10.05 million for fiscal 2015, up from earlier estimates.

Toyota said that robust sales in the U.S. were in part due to a continued slump in crude oil prices making gasoline cheaper, although it also said domestic sales, as well as sales in other parts of Asia and in its European markets had dropped. Enditem