Toyota Motor Corp., the world's second-largest automaker, forecast the biggest drop in profit in at least 18 years as a global slump cripples auto demand and gains in the yen erode the value of overseas sales. Net income will likely be 550 billion yen ($5.6 billion) for the year ending March 31, compared with an earlier forecast of 1.25 trillion yen, the company said today. The new forecast will be a 68 percent drop from the 1.72 trillion yen Toyota earned last year.
President Katsuaki Watanabe, 66, forecast the smallest profit in nine years as higher fuel costs and the credit crunch have pushed industrywide U.S. sales to the lowest level since 1983. Toyota, Japan's biggest carmaker, follows Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. in predicting larger-than-expected drops in earnings.
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