Toyota Warns Loss Is At Least $1.7 Billion For 2008 Forecast for 2009 Is Bleak

Toyota Motor, the world's biggest automaker, on Monday forecast its first ever group operating loss due to a relentless global slide in car sales and a crippling rise in the yen.

Toyota had been expected to issue its second profit warning in less than seven weeks, after domestic rival Honda Motor Co also took the rare step of altering its guidance outside the usual quarterly reporting season, but the downward revision was bigger than predicted.

"This is very, very, very bad," said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments.

"There's a chance they could fall into the red in the next business year as well. This is also not just a problem for Toyota. What is good for Toyota is good for the Japanese economy."

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M53R - 12/22/2008 12:33:08 PM

+1 Boost

All the automakers are suffering... this can never be good.

ChuckG20 - 12/22/2008 1:34:29 PM

+1 Boost

I think Toyota can sustain a couple of years of negative losses.

BigShow50 - 12/22/2008 2:25:58 PM

+1 Boost

Toyota with a cash reserve of $40 plus billion dollars treasure chest on the side and a company net worth of just over $105 billion...Toyota will still be "pro-active" in order to sustain anymore negative loss in the near future. Great tool to use among other car makers out there...if Toyota suffers then for sure others suffer in a more negative outcome...I would not be surprise if Toyota starts creating vehicles in the near future that will become even more price competitive than Kia and Hyundai...

lexworld - 12/22/2008 6:32:22 PM

+2 Boost

Yep, you gotta look at the big picture. Here's my observation. About a year ago my brother and I had a conversation regarding the new Highlander,Tundra,Sequoia and Landcruiser. We were a bit puzzled by why they would continue to make increasingly large trucks and suvs. We'll my gut feeling is they may have been carefully building their product line. For example, before you even get to their new Highlander, you have the Scion xd,Matrix,xb,Rav4,Highlander and the 4Runner. Next you have the upcoming iQ,ax,Yaris,Prius,new corolla,Camry,new Venza crossover then the Avalon. My point here is with this strategy alone, your competition would need deep pockets(extra cash reserve) and meet the ever increasing customer supply/demand. Honda may have match quality in most areas but, your average consumer, now more than ever, is looking for comfort,size,standard equip,product appeal and overall value. They may have predicted Gm,Ford and Chryslers demise. Ultimately, Chevy,Ford and Mopar customers have somewhere to defect to. With consumer confidence down, Toyota knows those customers will eventually come running. Remember, baby boomers still dominate the globe in terms of numbers. Toyota has been chasing baby boomers since the 50's.

Hubert_Wang - 12/22/2008 8:25:28 PM

0 Boost

they should work on the lexus lineup cause the toyota line up seems to be more exciting to look at than the "america's own japanese luxury brand"

XYZZ - 12/27/2008 5:02:36 AM

+1 Boost

some years back, a lot of new car dealers in new zealand had been driven out of business.

used japanese cars were being imported; these low mileage, still mechanically 'like new' or pretty close to new, made a lot more sense to buy, than real new cars.

JMB1013 - 12/28/2008 1:48:11 AM

+1 Boost

sucks