Toyota’s revenue increases amidst ‘difficult year’

The world’s biggest carmaker, Toyota, managed to boost revenue last year by 18%, while output was still plagued by supply chain constraints. The results from its last fiscal year unveil a slipping net income, but the performance nonetheless exceeds expectations. The group’s new boss Koji Sato comments that he sees further sales growth for the coming year accompanied by a net profit rising by 5%.

With a sales figure of 10,5 million cars, Toyota, together with the subbrands Daihatsu and Hino Motors, realized an annual profit of 2,5 billion yen (16,5 billion euros) for 2022. The drop in a year-over-year comparison comes in at 14%. This is attributed to the rising cost of raw materials, as the Japanese shipped more cars. In Japan, the fiscal year runs from April to April.

Rising material costs

Sato, who officially took over the helm from Akio Toyoda last month as CEO of the company, called it a “difficult year”, in which production was hampered by supply bottlenecks, predominantly caused by the chip crisis. Rising material costs have eaten away some of the margins of the pricing strategy.

Still, Toyota managed to exceed the internal forecasts. This is mainly attributed to boosted efforts from dealerships and production sites, which resulted in increased sales across the continents. As the chip crisis eases and the industry is getting more grips on material pricing, Sato believes that the company, against this context, will further improve annual sales to 11,4 million vehicles, which should see net income rise to 2,6 billion yen (+5%).

Second dedicated platform

Sato’s appointment must accelerate Toyota’s electrification strategy. The top manager confirmed his plans to sell 1,5 million BEVs by 2026 as a “base volume”. A set of ten electric vehicles, building on a new dedicated architecture currently under development, will drive this ambition.

Toyota’s second dedicated platform (the first one sits under the bZ4x and Lexus RZ 450e) also incorporates a new software and electronics platform. That’s a steep ambition with a timeframe of three years ahead. One of the prime goals is to reduce the manufacturing cost of BEVs. The company deploys these plans under the name BEV Factory. It is a cross-organisational and international structure implemented to accelerate its road map toward a line-up with more battery-powered models.