Toyota quarterly profit $1.2 bln as sales recover

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer

TOKYO (AP) - Toyota cruised back to profit in the latest quarter as the world's top carmaker cut costs and hitched a ride on the global auto sales recovery while fighting to salvage its reputation for quality.

Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday that January-March profit totaled 112 billion yen ($1.2 billion) compared with a 766 billion yen loss the year before.

Quarterly revenue jumped to 5.28 trillion yen ($57 billion) from 3.54 trillion yen a year earlier, when purchases of cars and other vehicles were slumping amid the global financial crisis.

Whether Toyota can continue its recovery rests in part on salvaging its reputation after recalling more than 8 million cars worldwide for faulty gas pedals, a braking software glitch, faulty floor mats and other defects.

On Monday, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it is carrying out a new investigation into Toyota to see whether it had stalled on a recall for a steering defect in 2005 in the U.S. It had carried out recalls for similar problems in Japan in 2004.

Although sales have held up in recent months, much of that came from unprecedented incentives to lure customers in North America as well as growth from fast-growing Asian nations like China.

For the fiscal year through March 31, Toyota posted a 209 billion yen ($2.3 billion) profit, a dramatic reversal from a 437 billion loss in the previous year, which was the automaker's worst annual red ink since being founded in 1937.

Toyota is forecasting even better results for the year through March 2011. It projects profit to rise 48 percent to 310 billion yen ($3.3 billion).

Toyota President Akio Toyoda expressed gratitude to dealers, suppliers, employees and buyers for the earnings results. "I am sincerely grateful to our customers," he said.

Global sales for the year ended March 31 totaled 7.24 million vehicles, down 4 percent from the previous year. Toyota is expecting that to improve to 7.29 million for the current fiscal year.