Toyota Motor on Tuesday said it expects a decline of 80% to the lowest level in nine years due to the effects of the pandemic coronavirus, which has reduced global demand for vehicles.
Forecast appeared the next day after it became known that Toyota plans to cut production in North America by almost a third to October due to government measures aimed at curbing the pandemic.
worldwide constraints of a social movement leads to the closure of factories, while the uncertainty about future household income forcing drivers to refrain from buying cars.
"the Coronavirus has caused us even more of a shock than the global financial crisis of 2008," said Toyota President Akio Toyoda at a press briefing live. "We expect a significant drop in sales, but despite this, we expect to remain in positive territory. We hope to become a leader in the economic recovery of the country."
Toyota predicted an operating profit of 500 billion yen (4.66 billion dollars) for the fiscal year to March 2021, which is 80% lower to 2.44 trillion yen in the just-ended year. This is the weakest profit since the 2011-12 fiscal year.
Many of the world Toyota's competitors, including Honda Motor, refrain from publishing forecasts, citing uncertainty about the impact of coronavirus.
Japanese automakers are preparing for the drop of car sales during the year, as economists expect a slow and uneven recovery after the pandemic, when people are holding back spending. Practice social distancing may also limit the desire to go to work, reducing the need for new cars.
Toyota and other automakers have gradually begun to resume work in factories around the world, but it is expected that weak demand and problems with the procurement will limit production in the coming months.
