Toyota posts quarterly profit, cuts loss forecast for year

Toyota, the world's largest automaker, announced a 21.8 billion yen net profit for the July-September quarter, and cut its forecast loss for the year to 350 billion yen(3.9 billion U.S. dollars) on Thursday.

The results are the latest from the auto industry to show that there are positive signs that the Japanese manufacturing sector is starting to get back on its feet.

Toyota has suffered over the last year because the company had expanded its operations before the credit crisis hit Japan after the summer of 2008.

Since then, Toyota has implemented a series of measures to reduce its costs and be more competitive, including closing down plants and, on Wednesday, announcing that it would be withdrawing from Formula One racing.

Toyota has cited the strength of the yen and a slump in sales due to the effects of the economic crisis.

Toyota is the producer of the Prius, the world's most popular hybrid vehicle, and currently leads the global green car market. The company has benefited in part from benefits put in place for consumers driving environmentally friendly vehicles as part of stimulus packages put in place to combat the global downturn.

Compared to other smaller Japanese automakers, however, the company has struggled to cope with the downturn.

Source: Xinhua