Toyota is likely to replace General Motors as the world’s largest automaker, despite Toyota’s announcement last week that it does not expect to turn an operating profit for the current fiscal year. Toyota is also likely to emerge as best-selling brand in the United States for the first time ever, surpassing Chevrolet and Ford .
The Oakland Press calls the potential victory “bittersweet” because of the Japanese automaker’s recently-announced woes. Toyota is could post its first operating loss since 1941 – and the largest loss it has ever posted.
Toyota ’s November manufacturing output was down 27 percent and December figures are expected to be even lower when they are announced after the new year.
Japan’s Chubu Keizai Shimbun newspaper reported that Toyota was planning deeper output cuts of 34 percent for January and 39 percent for February. Moody’s Investors Service downgraded its investment outlook for the Japanese auto industry from stable to negative, further signaling the decline.
