UPDATE 4-Toyota withdraws outlook on Thai floods, quake, yen hits Q2 (08/11/11)

Toyota withdrew its annual profit guidance after production was hit by the worst flooding in Thailand in 50 years.

The carmaker was restoring output levels following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March.

Honda was also forced to remove its guidance, while Nissan was able to raise its forecast after dealing with the Thai floods faster.

Toyota chief financial officer Satoshi Ozawa told a news conference that the firm could learn from its rivals.

"I can't deny that Nissan may have done some things right, given the outcome of how they recovered from both the earthquake and the floods," he said.

As a result of supply shortages caused by the situation in Thailand, Toyota lost production of around 150,000 vehicles between October 10th and November 12th.

The flooding meant its Japanese factories were at about 70-80 per cent of planned output levels, while its plants in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Pakistan were at 40 per cent.

However, Toyota has been able to raise its domestic production to near-normal levels following the March earthquake and tsunami two months ahead of schedule.

Koji Endo, senior analyst at Advanced Research Japan in Tokyo, said: "This disaster looks to be a short-term setback rather than a long-term one."

Peugeot, Fiat Lead European Car Sales Drop as Economy Stalls (16/11/11)

New car registrations in European fell 1.4 per cent to 1.04 million vehicles in October, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association.

In the first ten months of 2011, sales across the continent were down 0.9 per cent from last year to 11.5 million registrations.

PSA Peugeot Citroen, Renault and Fiat led the declines as economic concerns in Spain and Italy were felt by the auto industry.

Sales in Spain fell 6.7 per cent, while Italy saw deliveries dip 5.5 per cent.

Both Peugeot and Renault are shaving production capacity to reduce inventories as they report sales falling by 2.6 per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively. Fiat reported a ten per cent drop.

Sales in Portugal fell 41 per cent, while growth in the German market slowed to 0.6 per cent, pegging back the ten-monthly year-on-year rise to 9.8 per cent. 

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