Toyota’s Profit Falls by a Third Over 6 Months

Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday that its profit dropped by a third between July and December, partly because of a stronger yen and higher labor costs.

Operating profit for the six months plunged almost 62%, falling below 100 billion yen for the first time in 11 years.

Auto demand has been weak in Japan and the United States, and Japanese car makers have been squeezed by large capital investments they made when demand was stronger.

Ford Motor Co. on Thursday announced that it lost $2.3 billion in 1991, and Chrysler Corp. last week reported a loss of $795 million. General Motors Corp. is also expected to report a large loss, capping off the worst year for U.S. makers since 1980.

Toyota’s net income was $828.62 million, or 22 cents per share, on sales of $35.48 billion in the first half of its fiscal year. In the same period the year before, the company earned $1.25 billion, or 37 cents per share, on sales of $34.92 billion.

Toyota’s exports to the United States totaled 366,000 vehicles during the six-month period, down 20,000 from a year earlier.

Officials declined to predict how many vehicles will be exported to the United States this year. Asked about press reports that Japanese makers will agree to export fewer cars to the United States, Toyota officials said it has not been discussed.

Passenger car sales for the period totaled 1,624,589 vehicles, down 43,649 from a year earlier. Truck and bus sales, however, rose 18,247 to 433,661, reducing the overall vehicle decline to 25,402.