A WEAK car market, expenses allocated to new projects and some retail slowdowns and supply issues attributed to COVID-19 weighed on Toyota Motor Corporation Australia’s 2020 financial year ended March 31.

It this week announced an after-tax profit of $129 million for the Japanese financial year (April 1 2019 to March 31, 2020), down $77 million compared with $206 million the previous year.

The result came off the back of a weakened Australian car market that saw an industry decline of 9.1 per cent.

Toyota, however, shrugged off much of that average downturn with sales down 3.7 per cent, finding 206,219 homes for its Toyota and Lexus vehicles in its financial year.

In a statement, it said strong orders limited the financial impact of COVID-19, which came in late in its recent financial year. It sold 50,071 vehicles in the first three months of this year compared with 49,618 in the previous corresponding period.

Toyota Australia president and CEO Matthew Callachor said the reduced profit was attributed to increased costs associated with tighter market conditions, a tax adjustment relating to prior years, and continued capital investments.

Its major project is the construction of the education centre for its $7.4 million hydrogen centre project. The project, which includes a public hydrogen refuelling facility, is being built at Toyota’s Centre of Excellence that is supported Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). It will be completed later this year.

Mr Callachor said Toyota “greatly appreciated the loyalty of our customers, the dedication of our employees around Australia and the commitment of our dealer network, particularly during these challenging times.”

During the financial year, Toyota saw its hybrid Toyota and Lexus hybrid models exceed 20 per cent of sales, and launched new models of the RAV4, Corolla sedan, Hiace, Granvia and GR Supra with a facelift for the C-HR.

It also raised more than $650,000 in the “Good for Cricket” and “Good for Footy” raffles; celebrated 20 years as National Tree Day partner with 25 million trees planted around Australia; donated $573,000 to assist bushfire affected communities; and marked the second anniversary of the Toyota Community Trust and the awarding to date of over $1.8 million in grants for STEM education projects.

In 2019, Toyota was the best-selling brand for the 17th consecutive year with the Hilux becoming the top-selling vehicle for the fourth year and Corolla becoming Australia’s most popular passenger car for the seventh year.

Lexus is now celebrating its 30th year in Australia after setting an annual sales record of 9612 vehicles in 2019.

By Neil Dowling