Losses and profits. This is a miracle that should delight both supporters of a more sober society and advocates of growth. The world’s largest automaker, Toyota, said Thursday, November 4, that it will produce almost 300,000 fewer cars than expected this year, but that its profits, and even its turnover, were, in the same time, explode. It expects to make a profit of nearly 19 billion euros in its fiscal year, which ends in March 2022.
The miracle is explained. The drop in production, announced in September, is due to the supply difficulties endured by all manufacturers around the world. Electronic chips, of course, but also components of all kinds. Its suppliers in Vietnam and Malaysia have closed factories for health reasons. But this bad news is offset by the fact that consumer demand remains strong. She first focused on second-hand cars.
But the rise in prices that followed, coupled with the shortage, allowed the brand’s dealers, like those of most of the world’s major manufacturers, to put an end to the trade rebates that hampered the profitability of the models. In addition, he was able to focus on his most profitable models. It finally took advantage of the depreciation of the yen against the dollar and the euro, which inflated its resources in Japanese currency.
The rules of the game change at lightning speed
Do more with less. Clearly, this health crisis and its many aftershocks allow all experiments, both in terms of the economic model and the organization of work. The rules of the game are changing at lightning speed, and customers and businesses alike are adapting. The current recovery confirms the appetite of consumers, even if it means switching to the second-hand market. It should be remembered that the automobile is, along with real estate, one of the few sectors where the second-hand market, which is very diffuse and therefore less visible, is far superior to that of new, and that recycling, both parts and materials, is totally trivialized there.
Despite this small step towards a form of sobriety, the car remains in the crosshairs of environmentalists for the emissions of its engines. On the occasion of the Glasgow COP 26 on the climate, the NGO Greenpeace published a ranking of manufacturers according to their heat engine release schedule. And Toyota is coming 10e and last in the ranking. A shame for the inventor of the hybrid engine. Even miracles have their limits.