Toyota reports Q2 2007 earnings... yup, they're up

Toyota reported its earnings today for the second quarter that ended on June 30th, and not surprisingly, profits are up. Bolstered partly by a weak Yen, Toyota's operating profits rose 31.8% to $5.48 billion USD. Revenue was up 15.7% to $52.92 billion and sales were up 7.1% to 2,365,000 (Side Note: GM sold over 2.4 million globally in Q2). In a coincidental twist of fate, Toyota sales the world over were all up except in its home market of Japan, a situation that mirrors closely what is happening to General Motors, Ford, and the Chrysler Group in the U.S. The difference, however, is that the U.S. is potentially the most profitable market in the world, and a loss in the States equates to a lot more potential sales missed.
Toyota also commented on the Tundra's performance in the market place, saying, "from the beginning, we were ready to offer incentives," and "We had some concerns about the Tundra, but the plans have been achieved." Incentives are certainly a permanent part of the game now for automakers offering full-size pickups, and Toyota is not immune. Nevertheless, as we reported yesterday, sales are doing well, with the Tundra possibly overtaking the GMC Sierra 1500 in units sold year-to-date at the end of Q2. According to Mike Levine from pickuptruck.com, while hitting the 200,000 unit/year mark may be in question, there's still a chance the Tundra could overtake the half-ton Dodge Ram in sales by the end of the year.

[Source: Automotive News, sub. req'd]