Toyota’s quarterly profit down on COVID parts crunch

By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota has reported its net profit fell 31% from the year before in the January-March quarter but the Japanese automaker still wrapped up a year of record earnings. Toyota’s January-March profit totaled 533.8 billion yen, or about $4.1 billion. Automakers have been struggling to keep up with customer demand for their products because of parts shortages caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Toyota sold 8.2 million vehicles worldwide during the fiscal year through March, up from 7.6 million vehicles the year before. Toyota, which makes the Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury models, said its profit was boosted by a weaker yen.