While Detroit's big three has gotten a lot of negative press for their current financial situation, things aren't that much better at Toyota as the company is expected to post an annual net loss of $3.9 billion dollars (US).
Last year the company posted a record $15 billion profit but the state of the global economy has rapidly deteriorated since then. For the third quarter Toyota posted a $1.8 billion loss even though they managed to overtake GM to become the world's largest automaker. Originally Toyota was only expecting to post a $1.7 billion loss for the year but with the company's latest announcement, it is clear things aren't expected to turn around anytime soon.
Toyota's executive vice president, Mitsuo Kinoshita, says the loss is the result of "...lower vehicle sales volumes under difficult market conditions, mainly in the United States and Europe." He went on to state the weakness of the US dollar and the Euro compared to the Japanese yen has also played a significant role.
The last time Toyota posted a net loss was in 1950, when the company nearly went bust. While that isn't expected to happen this time either, Toyota is taking action to cut costs and save capital. Over the past year, thousands of temporary workers have been laid off and future workforce reductions remain possible although the company is stating they are committed to protecting their employee's jobs. Currently 27 of Toyota's 74 production lines are operating on one shift and production of the full-size Tundra pickup has been postponed indefinitely at the company's new plant in Mississippi.
