Toyota eyes 10% profit, EV sale increase

Toyota Motor is expecting a 10 percent increase in its operating profit this year, as well as a five-fold increase in electric vehicle (EV) sales, as global supply chain disruption eases, said the automaker on Wednesday.

Toyota forecast operating profit will rise to 3.0 trillion yen this business year, in line with forecasts of 3.02 trillion yen. Toyota shares climbed after their publication by 2.5 percent before paring gains to close at 0.8 percent.

“We expect an increase in overall sales volume in all regions and production volume of 10.1 million vehicles, due to such factors as improvement in semiconductor supply,” said Toyota in a statement.

The new EV sales target would boost Toyota’s battery EVs by two percent of total sales volume. Toyota is set to introduce 10 new battery-powered vehicles, with a sale target of 1.5 million EVs per year by 2026.