2nd UPDATE:Toyota Plans Ambitious 2012 Sales Rebound Despite Yen Threat
22 Dicembre 2011 - 12:20PM
Dow Jones News
TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.TO) said Thursday it
expects auto sales to surge by a fifth to a record level next year
as production returns to normal, with new models and emerging
markets helping drive growth after a year scarred by disasters in
Japan and Thailand.
But highlighting the scale of the problems it has faced this
year, Toyota was effectively knocked off its perch as the world's
biggest auto company by sales in 2011, as it said it expects its
group global sales to fall 6% in calendar 2011 to 7.90 million
vehicles.
The slacker sales will likely leave the auto maker trailing
General Motors Co. (GM) and Volkswagen AG (VOW.EX) this year,
putting an end to its three-year reign at the top of global auto
sales.
While Japan's biggest car maker forecasts global sales excluding
those of its subsidiaries to grow 20% to 8.48 million in 2012,
doubts remain whether Toyota can regain the top spot next year.
Toyota will likely have to overtake GM and VW, which are both
looking to sustain their own momentum, amid a stubbornly strong yen
that is continuing to blunt its overseas competitive edge, as noted
by Moody's Investors Service in their downgrade of the car maker's
rating the same day.
GM already sold 6.79 million vehicles in the first nine months
of this year, up 9.2% from the same period a year earlier, and
could sell over 9 million for the full year if it maintains a
similar growth pace. Volkswagen boosted sales 14% to 7.51 million
for the first 11 months of the year and has said it expects to sell
more than 8 million vehicles this year.
The likely loss of its leading sales crown comes as Japan's
biggest car maker by volume endures another tough year, with the
March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan followed by massive
flooding in Thailand earlier in the year. The previous year, Toyota
was hit by its global recall crisis.
The challenging environment looks set to continue, too, as the
soaring yen cuts into the profit margins of vehicles built in
Japan.
"The significant headwinds caused by the strong yen compound the
challenges that Toyota faces in rebuilding its market position and
restoring adequate profitability," said Moody's, citing the local
currency as a reason for downgrading its rating outlook to negative
from stable.
The strong yen dents margins on vehicles exported from Japan,
and adversely affects Toyota's price competitiveness, the rating
agency said in a release.
But Toyota's ambitious sales target for 2012 would outstrip the
company's sales record of 8.43 million posted in 2007. Toyota plans
to significantly rev up production to make up for lost output after
the disaster-triggered manufacturing disruption. It also expects
the Prius c new compact hybrid to help lift sales. Banking on
burgeoning demand, Toyota forecasts sales in China and other
emerging markets to account for 45% of its worldwide sales next
year, compared to 33% five years before.
The company plans to build 8.65 million vehicles globally, also
an all-time high level, in 2012. That will represent a 24% rise
from 2011.
Toyota is even more upbeat further down the road, as it
envisions ambitious plans for global sales of 8.95 million vehicles
and production of 8.98 million vehicles in 2013. If these levels
are meet, that could set the company's next target at a 10 million
threshold that has been never hit by any car maker, although
Volkswagen has said it wants to reach that mark by 2018.
The numbers for 2011 include sales at its small-car making
Daihatsu Motor Co. (7262.TO) and truck-manufacturing Hino Motors
Ltd. (7205.TO) subsidiaries.
But the targets for the next two years reflect plans at Toyota
only, excluding those for the two subsidiaries.
Toyota, and other Japanese car makers also released Thursday
their production data for November. The figures show that some of
their factories took a severe hit from the bottleneck of parts
supplies from Thailand due to the floods.
Toyota said its overseas output declined 9.1% to 357,613
vehicles in November, as production slowed due to the parts supply
disruption. Its domestic production was also affected to a lesser
extent, but still managed to rise 5.1% to 276,851 vehicles.
Nissan Motor Co. (7201.TO) said that its combined output in
Southeast Asia, South Africa and Brazil fell 17.6% to 34,395
vehicles in November while Honda Motor Co. (7267.TO) said that the
scarcity of parts from Thailand dented its domestic production by
37.8% to 54,403 vehicles and cut overseas output by 27.1% to
167,573.
-By Yoshio Takahashi, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-6269-2791;
yoshio.takahashi@dowjones.com
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