TOKYO (AP) Japans top automaker Toyota reported record sales for the fiscal year through March on Thursday, but its profit for the latest quarter faltered partly because of a certification scandal.
Toyota Motor Corp.s January-March net profit totaled 664.6 billion yen ($4.6 billion), down from 997.6 billion yen the same period a year ago. Quarterly sales totaled 12.36 trillion yen ($85.9 billion), up from 11 trillion yen.
Toyota has been strengthening the testing system of its vehicles after acknowledging wide-ranging fraudulent testing, including the use of inadequate or outdated data in crash tests, incorrect testing of airbag inflation and engine power checks.
Akio Toyoda, Toyotas chairman and the grandson of the automakers founder, has apologized. The wrongdoing did not affect the safety of vehicles already on roads, which include the popular Corolla subcompact and Lexus luxury vehicles.
But the scandal has been a major embarrassment for a manufacturer whose brand has been synonymous for decades with quality and attention to detail.
For the fiscal year through March, Toyota reported a 4.77 trillion yen ($33 billion) profit, down from 4.94 trillion yen the previous fiscal year.
Annual sales reached a record 48 trillion yen ($333.6 billion), up from 45 trillion yen. Toyota is forecasting sales of 48.5 trillion yen ($337 billion) for the fiscal year through March 2026.
Its profit forecast was less bullish, citing costs to meet carbon neutrality demands, as well as the impact of President Donald Trumps U.S. tariffs on operating income, which was factored in tentatively at 180 billion yen ($1.3 billion), according to Toyota. That estimate covers April and May, meaning it could grow in coming months.
Consolidated vehicle sales for the fiscal year through March totaled 9.36 million vehicles, down slightly from 9.44 million vehicles the previous fiscal year.
Cost reduction and marketing efforts worked as pluses countering the negatives, including the production shutdown spanning several months in the U.S. due to quality issues, Toyota officials said.
Toyota also said the portion of electric vehicles it was selling was steadily growing. Sometimes Toyota has been criticized as falling behind in the global move toward EVs, partly because it has an extensive lineup of other kinds of green cars, including hybrids.
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东京（美联社）——日本最大的汽车制造商丰田公司于周四报告称，截至3月的财年其销量创下历史新高，但最新季度利润因认证丑闻而出现下滑。
丰田汽车公司2023年1至3月的净利润为6646亿日元（约合46亿美元），相比去年同期9976亿日元的净利润有所下降。该季度总销售额为12.36万亿日元（约合859亿美元），较上一年度同期的11万亿日元有所增长。
在承认了广泛存在的欺诈性测试后，包括在碰撞测试中使用不足或过时的数据、安全气囊充气测试和发动机功率检查的错误测试，丰田一直在加强其车辆的测试系统。
丰田公司董事长、该汽车制造商创始人之孙的安西克（Akio Toyoda）已致歉。该错误并未影响已经上路的汽车的安全，其中包括广受欢迎的卡罗拉（Corolla）小型车和雷克萨斯（Lexus）豪华车。
然而，这场丑闻对这家制造商来说是一个巨大的尴尬。该制造商的品牌几十年来一直与质量和注重细节密切相关。
截至3月底的财年中，丰田公司报告了4.77万亿日元（约合330亿美元）的利润，较上一财年的4.94万亿日元有所下降。
年度销售额创下48万亿日元（约合3336亿美元）的历史新高，较前一年度的45万亿日元有所增长。丰田公司预计，截至2026年3月的财年，其销售额将达到48.5万亿日元（约合3370亿美元）。
丰田汽车公司表示，其利润预测较为谨慎，因为需要承担满足碳中和需求以及美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的关税对运营收入的影响，而运营收入初步估计为1800亿日元（13亿美元）。这一估计涵盖4月和5月，意味着未来几个月可能会增长。
截至今年3月，合并后的全年汽车销量为936万辆，略低于去年同期的944万辆。
丰田的官员表示，降低成本和营销努力作为正面的措施，抵消了因质量问题在美国停产数月的负面影响。
丰田还表示，其销售的电动汽车比例正在稳步增长。有时，丰田因在向全球电动汽车转型中落后而受到批评，部分原因是其拥有包括混合动力车在内的其他各种绿色汽车的广泛产品线。
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