Japanese carmakers look set to make sharp gains in earnings this fiscal year thanks to increased sales and a weakening yen, said the Nikkei business newspaper.
It added that Toyota and Honda are leading the way, moving up in the global standings. The Nikkei compared the consolidated operating profits of the world’s 12 biggest carmakers using results for the year ended 31 December for foreign companies and projections for the year ending 31 March for the Japanese.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
This showed that Japanese manufacturers are recovering following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami and the rise of the yen. Toyota is expected to move up from eighth place to second this fiscal year, while Honda is seen advancing two places to eighth although Nissan could fall from fifth to seventh.
The Nikkei reported that Japan’s top three are likely to post gains in operating profit with combined worldwide sales expected to grow nearly 20% to about 18m units. Sales are forecast to jump 24% in North America.
The yen’s recent weakening could boost Toyota’s profit by around JPY30bn (US$311m), the newspaper reported, adding that US and European carmakers’ profits will be down. Volkswagen is expected to remain number one with a record profit for 2012.
