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Friday April 27, 11:26 PMMazda earnings hit record high
Japan's fifth largest automaker, which is one-third owned by ailing US giant Ford Motor, said its net profit grew 11 percent to 73.7 billion yen (619 million dollars) in the last financial year. Revenue was also up 11 percent to a record 3.25 trillion yen, with operating profit jumping 28 percent to 158.5 billion yen, the Hiroshima-based automaker said in a statement. Japanese automakers have increasingly bet their fortunes on eco-friendly models in the United States, whose own Big Three of Detroit are in financial turmoil after focusing for years on larger gas-guzzlers. Mazda said it benefitted from the introduction in the past year of a new CX, a "crossover" SUV which means it has the appearance of a larger vehicle but the engine of a smaller car. It expected the growth to continue in the current financial year, forecasting net profit to rise 15 percent to 85 billion yen, with revenue seen climbing two percent and operating picking up one percent. Mazda said it sold 380,000 vehicles in North America in the last financial year, up eight percent. Retail volume in Europe also grew 6.7 percent to 301,000 units. But sales slipped marginally in China to 129,000 vehicles and the Japanese market remained weak, with sales down 8.6 percent to 261,000 units. Japan is in the midst of its longest economic expansion since World War II. "Private consumption, however, has not fully recovered. This is especially true in the automative market in which concerns about sluggish new car sales and other issues still remain," Mazda said. |
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