TMCA announces $206 million profit

TOYOTA Motor Corporation Australia (TMCA) has registered an after-tax profit of $206 million in its first financial year after shuttering its local manufacturing operation.

In the Japanese fiscal year to March 31, 2019, TMCA’s Toyota Australia and Lexus Australia operations sold a combined 223,096 vehicles, with the former again streets ahead as market leader.

However, this sales result was down by 2.7 per cent – or 6162 units – over the previous financial year, mainly because the loss of the locally built Camry mid-size sedan after the Altona plant in Victoria closed in October 2017.

Nonetheless, TMCA’s after-profit tax was up by a massive 50.4 per cent – or $69 million – thanks to a significant reduction in manufacturing closure costs.

As a result, TMCA said the return put it “in an optimum position as it invests in projects to transition from a car company to a true mobility company”.

Toyota Australia president and chief executive Matthew Callachor paid tribute to TMCA’s workforce and dealer network for driving the “strong profit result”.

“This is our first full year trading as a sales and distribution company, and Toyota market share increased from 18.2 per cent in 2017 to 18.8 per cent in 2018, which is quite a remarkable result considering the market decline in the second half of the financial year,” he said.

“I am immensely proud of the dedication and commitment of our people to have kept the growth momentum while staying true to Toyota's philosophy of continuous improvement.”

In the 2018 calendar year, Toyota was the best-selling brand for the 16th year in a row with 217,061 sales (+0.2%), while its HiLux ute was Australia’s favourite model for the third year running with 51,705 deliveries (+9.8%).

Lexus only contributed a fraction of this volume – 8819 units – but it still matched Brand T’s year-on-year growth of 0.2 per cent. The prestige brand’s top-selling model was the NX mid-size SUV that sold 3697 examples (+9.1%).