Toyota’s profits rise 78% on strong sales as the parts crunch eases

By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota’s profit for the first fiscal quarter jumped to 1.3 trillion yen, or $9 billion, hitting a quarterly record for Japan’s top automaker. Sales grew as the parts shortages related to the coronavirus pandemic eased. Toyota’s April-June net profit rose 78% from 736.8 billion yen the previous year, according to results the company released Tuesday. Quarterly sales edged up 24%, as vehicle sales improved in Japan, North America and other key markets. The difficulty obtaining computer chips that crimped auto production in recent years has eased, although Toyota says it’s unclear when that will get totally fixed.