Mexican Media Brands
Ford: Weak Yen Gives Toyota $11,000 Bonanza Per Car
Japan's weak yen has generated as much as $11,000 additional profit per car for rival Toyota Motor Corp., according to Bob Shanks, Ford Motor Co.'s chief financial officer.
#economics
Share
Japan's weak yen has generated as much as $11,000 additional profit per car for rival Toyota Motor Corp., according to Bob Shanks, Ford Motor Co.'s chief financial officer.
Shanks tells Bloomberg that Ford figures the currency shift gave Toyota an extra $10 billion in profit in 2013.
He says a Ford analysis concludes the weak yen added $6,000 in profit per car for the average vehicle shipped from Japan to the U.S. in 2012-2013. Further currency weakening since then has hiked the windfall to an average $11,000 per vehicle.
Shanks points out notes that Toyota has acknowledged in recent years that a significant share of its profits were due to the weak yen. Bloomberg wasn't able to confirm Ford's estimates of the resulting per-vehicle profits.
Toyota emphasizes that it makes most cars sold in the U.S. locally, declaring, "We don't run our business based on the yen." But Bloomberg says a weak yen gives Toyota considerable power in places such as Russia, where the benefit of a weak yen enable the company to avoid hiking prices to offset local currency swings.
RELATED CONTENT
-
On Headlights, Tesla's Autopilot, VW's Electric Activities and More
Seeing better when driving at night, understanding the limits of “Autopilot,” Volkswagen’s electric activities, and more.
-
Ford’s $42 Billion Cash Cow
F-Series pickups generate about 30% of the carmaker’s revenue. The tally is about twice as much as what McDonald’s pulls in.
-
Inside Ford
On this edition of “Autoline After Hours” Joann Muller, Detroit bureau chief for Forbes, provides insights into what she’s learned about Ford, insights that are amplified on the show by our other panelists, Stephanie Brinley, principal analyst at IHS Markit who specializes in the auto industry, and Todd Lassa, Detroit Bureau Chief for Automobile.