丰田高速增长快车或将减速

    得益于销量增长和日元贬值，丰田汽车（Toyota Motor）2014财年的总利润达到179亿美元，比上一财年的95亿美元增长了88%。这家日本汽车制造商的销量去年也增长了近50万辆，达到1,010万辆，而上一财年的总销量为970万辆。

    丰田在亚洲之外的其他地区销量都有所增长。

    上周，在东京举行的新闻发布会上，丰田汽车总裁丰田章男表示，公司将聚焦于可控增长，而不是一味追求高增长。他说：“我相信，可持续的增长意味着无论外部环境怎样，公司每年都可以获得稳步的增长。”丰田章男承认，丰田公司并未对销量的暴增做好准备，也很难保持这样的高增长。他说：“我们的员工和合作伙伴压力很大。”

    丰田章男将公司比作“一棵长得太快的树，结果还没有形成足够强壮的根基来抵御外部的变化”。

    惠誉国际信用评级有限公司（Fitch Ratings）执行董事史蒂芬•布朗表示，由于日元的贬值只是偶发事件，而日本也将会提升企业税，因此丰田将很难在来年取得这样高速的增长。他说，货币贬值去年为丰田的增长助了一臂之力，但未来则刚好相反，“丰田从现在开始将面临一些阻力。”

    丰田公司在亚洲销量的下滑可能是因为泰国市场的持续疲软。布朗指出，泰国的政治动荡给整个行业都制造了麻烦。

    丰田公司提升销量——特别是北美市场销量——的方式就是重新设计打造旗下畅销车型——凯美瑞（Camry）。人们普遍认为，上一代凯美瑞的造型“过于保守”，特别是比起现代索纳塔（Hyundai Sonata）和福特新蒙迪欧（Ford Fusion）来说，更是如此。布朗说：“高水平的测评结果相当积极，或许可以推动北美的销量。”（财富中文网）

    译者：唐昕昕

    Buoyed by increasing car sales and the devaluation of the yen, Toyota Motor (TM) posted profits of $17.9 billion for its fiscal year 2014, up 88% from $9.5 billion a year earlier. The Japanese automaker's car sales were up by nearly half a million units for the year, totaling 10.1 million cars sold compared to 9.7 million the previous year.

    This included increased sales in all regions except for Asia.

    In a press conference yesterday in Toyko, Toyota president Akio Toyoda focused on controlled growth, rather than trying to move too quickly. "I believe that sustainable growth means growing steadily each year under any circumstances," he said. Toyoda acknowledged that his company was unprepared for the increase in vehicle sales and had trouble keeping up. "Our employees and partners were overstretched," he said.

    Toyoda compared the company to "a tree that grew too rapidly, that as a result was not able to form a strong enough trunk to protect it from the elements."

    It will be hard to sustain the massive growth in the coming year, said Stephen Brown, managing director at Fitch Ratings, because the Yen's devaluation was a one-time occurrence and because of increasing corporate taxes in Japan. "They've got some headwind pressures going forward now," he said, as opposed to the help the company got last year from the currency devaluation.

    The decline in Asian sales could be due to an increasingly difficult market in Thailand. Brown noted that the political turmoil in that country has created problems across the industry.

    A factor that could lift sales, especially in North America, is the planned redesign of the Camry, typically a big seller. The previous iteration of the sedan was generally viewed as "conservative," especially when compared to cars like the Hyundai Sonata and the Ford Fusion, Brown said. "The high-level reviews have been fairly positive," he said. "That should boost their sales here."