TOKYO (AP) – Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s No. 1 automaker, raised its earnings forecast Wednesday after third quarter profit jumped 14 percent, boosted by a weak yen.
Toyota reported a better-than-expected 600 billion yen ($5.1 billion) profit for the three months through December. Quarterly sales of 7.17 trillion yen ($61 billion) were up 9 percent year-on-year.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast a quarterly profit of 540 billion yen ($4.6 billion).
The Japanese automaker, which makes the Camry sedan, Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury model, expects a profit of 2.13 trillion yen ($18 billion) for the fiscal year through March, up nearly 17 percent from the previous year. It had previously projected a 2 trillion yen ($17 billion) profit.
Toyota has held the top spot in global vehicle sales for three years straight, selling 10.23 million vehicles last year, beating Volkswagen AG of Germany and U.S. rival General Motors Co.