Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) revealed that deliveries of the latest version of its popular gas-electric hybrid, Prius, will be delayed by a year due to a shortage in supply of batteries on the back of earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11 that damaged many parts supplying companies’ plants. The revamped version, Prius Alpha, had been initially set for launch in April this year.
Prius Alpha will be sold in both 5-seater and 7-seater versions. The 5-seater version will be sold in North America as Prius V in a year while the other version will be offered in Europe as Prius+ in mid-2012.
Prius V, priced at ¥2.35 million ($29,000), is equipped with nickel-metal hydride batteries like its predecessor. However, Prius+, which starts at ¥3 million ($37,000) in Japan, has lithium-ion (Li-on) batteries, which takes less space, allowing for more cabin room. Li-on batteries will be used for the first time in a Toyota hybrid.
The automaker intends to sell 2,000 units of the new Prius per month in North America and 2,000 units per month in Europe. It has already received orders of 25,000 units of the hybrid – 18,000 units of Prius V and 7,000 units of Prius+. The company revealed that it could produce only 2,000 units of Prius V per month and 1,000 units of Prius+ per month.
Toyota, a Zacks #3 Rank (Hold) stock, posted a profit of ¥408.18 billion ($5.07 billion) or ¥130.16 ($1.60) per share for its fiscal 2011 ended March 31, 2011 that almost doubled from ¥209.46 billion or ¥66.79 per share a year ago.
The increase in profit was attributable to positive impact of ¥490.0 billion due to marketing efforts and ¥180.0 billion due to cost reduction measures, partially offset by a negative impact of ¥110.0 billion due to the earthquake in Japan and ¥290.0 billion due to unfavorable exchange rates.
Consolidated revenues in the fiscal year rose marginally by 0.23% to ¥18.99 trillion ($235.80 billion) from ¥18.95 trillion, driven by a growth in unit sales in Asia (28%) and Other regions (15%), offset partially by a decline in unit sales in Japan (11.5%), North America (3%) and Europe (7%). Total unit sales increased 0.98% to 7.31 million units during the fiscal year.
Meanwhile, Toyota’s domestic competitor Honda Motor Co. (HMC) revealed a 38% fall in profit to ¥44.55 billion ($536 million) or ¥24.72 per share (30 cents per share) in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 from ¥72.18 billion or ¥39.78 per share in the same quarter of prior fiscal year.
The decline in profit was attributable to unfavorable currency translation effects, higher selling, general and administrative expenses and the tsunami and earthquake in Japan. These more than offset the positive impact from cost reduction measures, lower R&D expenses, increase in sales volume (except in the Automobile segment) and model mix, and operating income related to licensing agreements.
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