Toyota Motor Corp.’s North American sales soared 45% last quarter as its regional operating profit doubled, giving the manufacturer an increase in its 2012 profit outlook.
At the end of the quarter, Toyota’s second fiscal quarter, North American sales rose to 598,000 from 413,000 in the same quarter last year, which saw worldwide sales affected by the Japanese earthquake.
Toyota’s North American operating profit leapt to 64.9 billion yen, or $807.1 million, during the third quarter, up from 32.5 billion yen in 3Q12. At 257.9 billion yen, or $3.2 billion, the company’s global net profit more than tripled.
“In North America, operating income improved as a result of increased vehicle production and sales, despite the decreased contribution from financial services,” said Toyota’s Executive Vice President Satoshi Ozawa.
With auto demand in the U.S. continuing to bounce back, and Toyota’s supply back to normal, the company’s North American production increased 42% to 391,000 vehicles, and the robust sales equalized slumping sales in China. Toyota, Japan’s largest auto manufacturer, increased its full-year net profit by 2.6%, despite a territorial dispute that cut sales between the two counties in half.
Toyota’s U.S. sales were up 16% last month from October 2011, which resulted in the company’s marketshare, which also includes luxury offshoot Lexus, rising to 13.9% from 12.3% last year.
Over regulation? Who was regulating AIG? The CRA? Have you ever read the Act? It was enacted to prohibit “red lining” by lenders and insurance companies. It had NO force of law to compel banks to makes risky loans. Risky mortgages were made because they could immediately be sold to Wall Street who would packed them up into an ABS, “insure” it with a CDO, and sell it as a AAA rated bond. Doesn’t this sound as if the regulators were asleep? Repeal of Glass Steagall made no difference? It opened the door to this entire debacle.
Fannie and Freddie were buying mortgages in competition with Wall Street. If you check out the resource I provided rather than watching FOX you will find out this is true.
The impact of Barney Frank and the CRA is negligible at best.
What I might agree with is the fact that the administration seemingly wants lenders to do what got them into trouble in the first place. The banks have their own reasons to sit tight. They are sitting on billions of potential losses. Many are holding Mortgage Backed Securities or mortgages themselves. The collateral does not support the money loaned against it. If this house of cards starts to crumble there won’t be anywhere near enough cash to save these banks. Everyone is holding their breath on this.
And even financially solvent small businesses aren’t borrowing. They mostly aren’t looking to expand and many are just treading water. Many of the small businesses looking for loans need the money to hang on, a risk lenders aren’t willing to take on at the moment.
Toxic assets and the associated deflation of home values are the proverbial “Sword of Damocles” hanging above our heads..