TOKYO: Crisis-hit Toyota said yesterday that global sales rose 13 per cent year-on-year in February, but analysts warned that the fall-out from recent mass safety recalls would continue to hang over the firm.The Toyota group, which includes brands Daihatsu and Hino trucks, sold 613,845 vehicles worldwide last month, up from 543,435 a year earlier, a spokesman said.
The group’s global production in the same period jumped 69.2 percent to 734,631 units, of which 655,180 were for the Toyota brand alone.
Analysts said the figures were unsurprising given the auto industry’s troubles a year earlier as the world economic downturn eroded demand.
“The robust figures were largely due to a rebound from its sizeable slump a year earlier. There was no surprise. The figures were within expectations,” said Mamoru Kato, auto analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Centre.
“It is too early to be optimistic about the fate of Toyota.”
One of Japan’s most famed companies, Toyota has been battered by both the global economic downturn and by its massive safety woes over faulty accelerator and brake systems.
In recent months, the world’s largest automaker has been forced to recall more than eight million vehicles worldwide mostly due to problems with sudden acceleration, which have been blamed for 58 deaths in the United States.
Domestic sales continue to rise however, surging 32.1 per cent year-on-year to 210,767 units, with sales in the Toyota brand alone up 49.9 per cent.
The figures were largely boosted by the success of the Prius hybrid model, the best selling car in Japan for the ninth consecutive month, according to statistics released earlier by a professional body.
Vehicle exports from Japan more than doubled to 161,533 units, Toyota said in a statement. — AFP