Toyota lifts annual profit forecast despite production cuts

TOKYO: Toyota upgraded its full-year profit forecast on Thursday after a strong quarter that saw it weather production cuts caused by a chip crunch and supply chain issues in pandemic-hit Southeast Asia.

The world's top-selling automaker has recovered quicker than its competitors from some of the impact from Covid, but has been unable to avoid the twin pain of the semiconductor shortage and a supply bottleneck caused by factory disruption.

Though the Japanese giant lifted its annual net profit forecast, chief financial officer Kenta Kon sounded a note of caution, saying raw material costs were rising. He also apologised for delays experienced by buyers after the chip shortage forced Toyota to cut output by some 550,000 units in the July-September period.

"We're very sorry we're making many customers wait for the delivery of their cars due to production cuts. We're making efforts to deliver cars as soon as possible," Kon told reporters.

The global shortage of microchips - essential components of modern cars - has forced many automakers to slow or temporarily halt production. Toyota will continue reducing output during the current quarter, and has lowered its annual production target for 2021-22 to nine million vehicles from the 9.3 million previously planned.