Toyota projects first loss in 70 years

The Japanese auto giant forecast its first operating loss in 70 years on Monday, more fallout from the severe slump in vehicle sales that has nearly claimed two Detroit automakers and raised questions over when the U.S. market, Toyota's largest, will hit bottom. Despite the setback, the automaker is still poised to pull ahead of its main U.S. rival, General Motors Corp., to become the No. 1 world carmaker in 2008, industry watchers said. Toyota reported it sold 7.05 million cars worldwide during the first nine months of the year, compared with 6.66 million for GM for the same period. ``They're going to grow and outstrip General Motors, there's no way around that,'' said George Magliano, analyst with IHS Global Insight. Toyota Motor Corp., which is committed to zero layoffs, will continue cutting production to weather the downturn. The automaker also lowered its global vehicle sales forecast for the second time this year and said it was putting ambitious expansion plans on hold, in large part because of a precipitous drop in demand in the U.S. ``The tough times are hitting us far faster, wider and deeper than expected,'' Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe told a gloomy news conference at the company's Nagoya, Japan, headquarters. ``This is an unprecedented crisis requiring urgent action.'' Sona Iliffe-Moon, a spokeswoman for the automaker's U.S. arm., said the company has not had any layoffs since the 1950s. ``As a result of that experience, it became a part of our culture to ensure employment and stability for employees,'' Iliffe-Moon said Toyota had reported strong growth in recent years, boosted by heavy demand for its fuel-efficient models like the Camry sedan and Prius gas-electric hybrid. But Watanabe said a severe drop in demand, especially in North America, which accounts for one-third of vehicle sales, and profit erosion from a surging yen were too much for Japan's No. 1 automaker. Overall U.S. auto sales fell to their lowest level in 26 years last month. ``The change that has hit the world economy is of a critical scale that comes once in 100 years,'' Watanabe said. Toyota said it expects an operating loss of 150 billion yen ($1.66 billion) for the fiscal year ending in March, compared with an operating profit of 2.27 trillion yen ($25.2 billion) a year earlier. Toyota said it would still post a small net profit of 50 billion yen ($555 million), thanks to outside dividend income, down from year-earlier earnings of 1.7 trillion yen ($18.89 billion). But operating income is seen as the best reflection of its core business. The Japanese automaker said it had no intention of drifting from its practice of avoiding layoffs for full-time employees either globally or for its 14 U.S. factories located in the South and Midwest. Instead, it assigns other tasks for employees when it idles plants, such as training or community service. Employees can also take unpaid time off. By YURI KAGEYAMA and DAN STRUMPF Read More

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