Toyota has finally cut its forecast for North American car sales by 60,000 automobiles this year, and it's the first time when it revealed what expectations it has for US's car market. The automaker is convinced that a decline is inevitable. As American consumers shift away from fuel sippers like the Prius Hybrid and toward trucks and sport utility vehicles. Nissan Motor Co., which posted a drop in profit as it gave heftier incentives that buoyed deliveries, said it’s not seeing room for further expansion.
The executive vice president of Toyota admitted that the car sales in US turned into something weaker, the car brand reported a 43% plunge in quarterly operating profit The more dour outlook is significant not only for Toyota and Nissan but for Japan’s economy. For the nation’s automakers, North America remains the biggest export destination, with more than 1.3 million passenger cars shipped during the first nine months of the year. That was double the number of vehicles exported to Europe and four times the number sent to the rest of Asia, including China, which has seen a tax cut-induced buying spurt.
The peak also has arrived at an inopportune time because the stronger yen continues to drag on earnings. Toyota is projecting operating profit to slump by 40% to 1.7 trillion. Nissan's operating income probably will drop by 10% to 710 billion yen.
