Toyota Profit Rises 34% to Record on U.S., Asia Sales

[shugah]

Toyota Profit Rises 34% to Record on U.S., Asia Sales

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp., the world's second-biggest automaker, said third-quarter profit rose 34 percent to a record, buoyed by a weaker yen and increased sales of fuel-efficient Prius and Camry cars in the U.S. and Asia.

~snip~

`Customers in North America, Japan and Europe prefer more fuel-efficient vehicles with smaller engines,'' said Yasuaki Iwamoto, an Okasan Securities Co. analyst who said Toyota shares will ``outperform'' the market.

Toyota's Yaris compact car and other models made by Japan- based Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. travel about 40 miles per gallon in highway driving.

Armed with designs from Japan, where 39 out of a combined 139 models were compacts, Toyota, Nissan and Honda are aiming to get the edge over General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit, which have only four compact types among them.

Six of Japan's 10 best-selling autos in November were compact cars, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. Toyota, with 70 different makes on its catalog in Japan, has 17 cars and minivans with engines smaller than 1.8- liter capacity.

``Toyota has one of the best strategies in emerging markets and in the biggest market and it's been successful with the models released in those markets,'' said Daiwa SB's Kubota.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aFXX9s.0_aTQ&refer=top_world_news

[truthisfreedom]

1. their economy's tanked, and they waited it out, and bush has delivered

their salvation! woohoo! let's hear it for Japan!

so when is he going to save us?

[JNelson6563]

2. Some discussion on this here too

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2091080

Will Detroit figure it out before it's too late? Who's taking bets?

Julie

[shugah]

3. i'm afraid it's already too late for detroit

but i'll be happy if i'm wrong!

[freethought]

6. I would tend to agree

Detroit is waking up too late. The Japanese, the Koreans have gotten too much of an edge on them. Someone posted an article about a GM concept car, a hybrid diesel that achieved nearly 60 mpg. GM has no plans to build or market the vehicle. And considering that most of the vehicles Detroit puts our tend to look boring, this vehicle actually looked interesting.

The Big Three are still stuck in "BIG SUV" mode. They are addicted to it.

[Halliburton]

13. at least you got your superbowl before it was too late

[wordpix]

4. Toyotas &Hondas also are trouble free for years, as long as you change oil

regularly and do basic maintenance.

My Civic has 60K miles on it and all I've done is change tires and oil so far---it hums like new. I haven't even had to replace the muffler yet.

[fed-up]

5. My 1989 Honda Civic Wagovan has 250,000 miles-and it gets 30MPG n/t

[Tesha]

7. Stainless steel exhausts basically last forever.

> My Civic has 60K miles on it and all I've done is change tires and oil so far---
> it hums like new. I haven't even had to replace the muffler yet.

Stainless steel exhausts basically last forever.

My 1991 Audi (with 191K miles on it) just had its first bit of
exhaust trouble and it was fixed by welding in a patch. Even our
138K mile Caravan, as unreliable a PoS as ever roamed this nation's
highways, hasn't had exhaust problems yet!

Tesha

[Auntie Bush]

8. Our Camry has almost 80,000 miles and it's NEVER developed

a problem...only basic maintenance has kept it running beautifully. Why the hell can't American manufactures make a car equally as good?
Well if you spend all your money making huge gas guzzliers...you ain't too bright! We could all see this fiasco happening and we aren't experts! Why didn't they?

[physioex]

10. Hmm.....

I would suggest a timing belt change soon. Also I would suggest changing the water pump, belts and cam seals that leak since it is cheaper to do it while everything is apart. Get this procedure done as you do not want the timing belt to break.

[Auntie Bush]

11. I didn't mean we've spent nothing on the car. We have

done regular scheduled maintenance and check-ups...(And they are expensive) That is when the belts were changed etc so I guess we're OK for a little longer. Owning as car is expensive and keeping it up to snuff is too. I particularly like the Camry because it hasn't failed us and it is only the second foreign car we've owned. I can't say that for some others we've had which have been real lemons, left us stranded and broke and without a car till we could afford to get a new transmission which failed 250 miles after the 50,000 mile guarantee. That was a real bummer and I will never forgive them for that Taurus which they recalled a year later and paid us back for the transmission. I could go on and on about that and the one that qualified under the lemon law...but I won't. I just wanted to say I love my Camry and appreciate it's reliability and just wish American companies could do the same and I'd very happily buy American. I hope that day will come soon! I hate having to buy foreign cars...but I can't afford American.

[physioex]

12. Cool.....

You should be fine then..... :)

[Javaman]

9. Soooprise, soooprise, soooprise...

I'm getting a Honda Fit this spring.