Toyota reports rise in fiscal 3rd-quarter profit

updated 8:16 a.m. ET Feb. 7, 2006

TOKYO - Toyota, whose solid growth could put it ahead of General Motors as the world's No. 1 automaker, reported a 34 percent rise in profit Tuesday for the quarter ended Dec. 31 as sales jumped in North America and Asia.

Toyota Motor Corp., the world's second-biggest automaker, marked a record group net profit of 397.6 billion yen ($3.3 billion) during the three months, up from 296.5 billion yen the same period a year earlier.

Sales for the quarter were also a record for the company at 5.33 trillion yen ($45 billion), up 15 percent from 4.64 trillion yen the previous year.

Koichi Sugimoto, auto analyst at Nomura Securities Co., said Toyota is finally raking in the benefits from the investments in plants and car development the automaker made in the past to keep up with growing global demand.

"The October-December quarter is when Toyota will start doing fantastic business in a real way," he said.

Toyota's growth comes at a time when U.S. automakers General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. are struggling.

GM posted its largest annual loss in more than a decade in 2005, losing $8.6 billion. Ford chalked up a $2 billion profit for 2005, but that was down 42 percent from the previous year. Ford has announced a plan to cut 30,000 jobs and close 14 facilities by 2012.

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