Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota Motor Corp. and scion of its founding family said that a slowdown in emerging markets and uncertainty over demand in both China and the Japanese home market makes 2014 "unpredictable".
"A deceleration is seen in emerging markets that have been growing rapidly until now," said Toyoda, who is also chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, said in a statement. "This year, the situation is unpredictable."
While the weaker yen increased earnings for Japanese exporters, those profits are being offset by slowing demand in India, Thailand, Brazil, and Russia. Japanese automakers also continue to face a potential repeat of Chinese consumers rejecting their products, as happened last year as tensions between those countries' governments increased over who owns a group of Islands under dispute.
"It may be impossible" to shield against tensions between the two countries, Toyoda had told reporters earlier in December. "But we will work to minimize the impact."
Slowing sales in emerging markets caused Honda Motor Co. to miss analysts' forecasts for its first-half earnings this year. Nissan Motor Co., which is looking to make Mexico a hub for exports, reduced projected full-year earnings by 15 percent to reflect slower than anticipated sales in the developing world.
Toyota's own operating profits were down in Asia, excepting Japan, in the third quarter, as Thailand ended government incentives for first-time car purchases. Akio Toyoda was pessimistic about Japan as well because of that country's planned increase in the national sales tax rate from 5% to 8%. The Toyota president said, on behalf of JAMA, that automakers would like to see a stable yen since production cannot be shifted around the world as quickly as currency values change. The Japanese currency is currently at a five year low against the American dollar.
from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com
Put the internet to work for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment