As if it isn’t bad enough for the big 3 US auto makers. By the way I love my 2005 Ford Explorer!!
From the Wall Street Journal this morning:
Toyota warned it expects to post its first-ever annual operating loss and a slim net profit, showing how even the world's most-competitive companies are struggling in the global economic slowdown.
Japan's biggest company by market cap said it expects consolidated operating loss of ¥150 billion, or about $1.68 billion, in the fiscal year through March 31, 2009, hurt by sliding demand in the U.S., Europe and Japan and the rising yen against the dollar. The revision came just six weeks after Toyota revised down its operating profit forecast to ¥600 billion for the current fiscal year, compared with ¥2.27 trillion in the year-earlier period. Toyota said it expects to book a net profit for the current fiscal year of ¥50 billion, helped by interest income and dividend from affiliates. That's less than a tenth of its previous forecast of ¥550 billion and ¥1.72 trillion it posted in the year-earlier period.
"It's a kind of emergency that we've never experienced before," said Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe, speaking at a news conference. "The environment surrounding us is extremely harsh."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122992788012825897.html?mod=djemTAR
