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Toyota Motor Corp. forecast profit will rise 48 percent this fiscal year as it recovers from record recalls in North America, its largest market, and boosts sales in Asia outside Japan.

The company may increase net income to 310 billion yen ($3.35 billion) in the year ending in March, from 209 billion yen a year earlier, the automaker said in a statement today.

Toyota’s U.S. sales rose 24 percent in April as incentives boosted demand for its Corolla and Prius models and offset the impact of recalls of more than 8 million vehicles worldwide for defects related to unintended acceleration. Toyota’s North American sales may increase 1.5 percent this fiscal year to 2.13 million vehicles, the company said, as the region recovers from a recession.

“North America is the only market that matters” for Toyota’s earnings this year, said Gentoku Kiyokawa, a fund manager in Tokyo at Fortis Investments, which bought Toyota shares in February. “Based on the recent sales numbers, the recalls aren’t posing a problem.”

Toyota’s U.S. sales dropped 20 percent in 2009, as industrywide sales slumped 21 percent to 10.4 million units, the lowest level since 1982.

The company’s sales in the United States surged 41 percent in March, after it introduced discounts across its lineup.

50,000 lost sales

Lost sales due to the recalls for the year ended in March amounted to about 50,000 vehicles, compared with an earlier estimate of 100,000, Toyota Senior Managing Director Takahiko Ijichi said at a press conference in Tokyo today. The cost of the recalls was between 170 billion yen and 180 billion yen, he said.

“We are still in the middle of the storm, but I am feeling that we can see clear skies in the distance,” President Akio Toyoda said.

While Toyota didn’t say by how much the recalls will cut profit this year, related costs, such as a $16.4 million fine from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, are included in the forecast for the year ending in March 2011, it said. The company set aside an extra 100 billion yen in provisions for warranties last fiscal year.

Toyota also expects to benefit from cost savings of 290 billion yen, including cuts to executive compensation, Toyoda said. That may help operating profit surge 90 percent to 280 billion during the current financial year, according to today’s statement.

Increasing competition

Still, the Japanese carmaker must fend off increasing competition in the United States from Ford Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co.’s new models, said Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst at Edmunds.com.

“This will be a tough year for Toyota,” Caldwell said. “They’ve fallen weak at a time when their competitors are so strong.”

Sales of Hyundai’s revamped Sonata sedan, which was introduced in the United States in February, surged 57 percent in April. The model competes with Toyota’s Camry sedan, sales of which gained 10 percent that month. Ford’s April sales rose 26 percent.

Competition in the U.S. is “intensifying” as American competitors have strengthened their passenger car lineups and Hyundai’s presence is increasing, Honda Motor Co.’s Executive Vice President Koichi Kondo said on April 28.

In the fourth quarter, Toyota posted net income of 112 billion yen, compared with a loss of 766 billion yen a year earlier. Toyota was projected to post 48.3 billion yen in net income based on the average of four analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales for the quarter rose 49 percent to 5.28 trillion yen.

Toyota based its full-year forecast on exchange rates of 90 yen to the dollar and 125 yen to the euro, compared with an average 93 yen against the dollar and 131 yen against the euro last fiscal year.

The automaker predicts sales in Asia excluding Japan will rise 11 percent to 1.09 million vehicles this fiscal year. In Japan, its second biggest market, sales are expected to drop 11 percent to 1.92 million. In Europe, the company forecasts sales of 860,000 vehicles, an increase of 0.2 percent from the last fiscal year.

Toyota also said it plans to review models and improve the efficiency of its production structure in Japan, North America and Europe.

New auto safety legislation proposed in the wake of Toyota’s recall problems is drawing criticism from House Republicans and Michigan Democrat John Dingell, suggesting that changes are in store for the Democratic leaders’ bill.

Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee said almost unanimously today that the draft bill would unduly expand government authority and undercut automakers while they are rebounding from a severe slump.

“I’m not sure it’s time to pile on the auto industry,” Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the committee, said at the hearing of the subcommittee on commerce.

Dingell, in a statement, said: “As with most first drafts of legislation, the Waxman-Rush bill has provisions that, in my view, require improvement, especially as they relate to the bill’s practicability, both for federal regulators and those subject to federal regulation,” Dingell said in a statement.

Chairman Henry Waxman, the bill’s chief sponsor, said his goal was to have the committee pass a bill that both Dingell and he could support.

The measure seeks to improve vehicle safety technology by establishing performance standards for brake override systems, black-box crash data recorders, pedal placement and electronic systems.

Doubling funding

It also would toughen federal oversight by removing the $16.4 million cap on fines, giving the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration the authority to order a recall if it identifies an imminent hazard, doubling federal funding for NHTSA and imposing fees on automakers to fund increased resources for the agency.

“The recent Toyota recalls severely rattled the driving public,” Waxman said. “This legislation meets the public’s urgent concerns.”

A couple of bill provisions drew bipartisan support, most notably the requirement for brake override systems.

A new override standard “is something we certainly support,” Barton said. He and Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., also endorsed a proposal for a more consumer-friendly NHTSA complaint database.

The Senate Commerce Committee is to hold hearings on a similar bill introduced this week.

White House: no position yet

The Obama administration has not yet taken a position on the bill, NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said in an interview before the House hearing.

In prepared testimony, though, he expressed support for a couple of provisions, including giving NHTSA the authority to order recalls if it thinks a hazard is imminent.

“This provision gives NHTSA an important avenue through which to deliver on its consumer protection mission — a mission I strongly believe in,” Strickland’s written testimony says.

Rep. Bobby Rush, the subcommittee chairman, criticized Strickland’s testimony.

“There’s a lack of detail that leaves us wanting,” said Rush, D-Ill.

Strickland said the Transportation Department and the White House were still reviewing the legislation. The bill “does give a fantastic foundation in helping us be a stronger and more transparent agency,” he said.

Dingell questions

Dingell asked Strickland whether the proposed $3-per-vehicle fee for automakers was arbitrary and whether it matched the agency’s needs.

The lawmaker also asked whether fines on automakers should be subject to judicial review, and whether NHTSA had a definition for the kind of “imminent hazards” that could trigger immediate vehicle recalls.

Finally, Dingell asked if there was some guarantee that the new safety technology requirements would be limited to new cars.

Strickland promised to get responses for Dingell.

Wouldn’t start yesterday. Lots of corrosion on the wire bundle, we couldn’t even unlock the ignition. Cleaned that all up, and it cranks over good, but doesn’t want to start. Any ideas?
This is my sisters car, and I don’t even know where the carburetor is lol. The car is driven daily.

Response:
Before you crank the engine and with the key in the Run position can you hear the Fuel Pump run for a couple Seconds? Sometimes it takes 2 people with 1 listening at the fuel cap with it off. If it runs then, Check for Spark at 1 of the plugs. Also check to be sure that the Spark Plugs are NOT fowled or wet appearing. If they are get New Plugs and BEFORE you install them crank the engine over to clear out excessive fuel. Also disconnect the Ignition to Prevent a Fire before you crank it. Safety First!!

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