Toyota raised its full-year profit guidance by 54 per cent and said it did not expect any major disruption to production, shrugging off a global pandemic-triggered chip shortage that has crippled the car industry.
The Japanese carmaker overtook Germany’s Volkswagen as the world’s largest carmaker last year, outperforming rivals in both sales and profit margin during the final three months of 2020. The rally was driven by a strong rebound in all its key markets including China and the US.
Its shares briefly rose more than 3 per cent to their highest level since the summer of 2015 on Wednesday after Toyota forecast an operating profit of ¥2tn ($19bn) for the fiscal year ending in March, higher than the ¥1.3tn projected in November. It also raised its group-wide global vehicle sales target by 3.3 per cent.
The increased projections — the second in three months — also highlighted Toyota’s supply chain management skills. Its global rivals have been forced to…