Hit by scandal, Japan’s top automaker Toyota reports lower profits

AP Business Writer

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota’s July-September profit has sunk to less than half of what it was in the same period the previous year, as a production stoppage that followed a certification scandal and recalls dented vehicle sales. The Japanese automaker said on Wednesday that its quarterly profit totaled 573.7 billion yen, or $3.7 billion. Toyota, which makes the Camry sedan and Lexus luxury models, suspended production on some models after acknowledging wide-ranging fraudulent testing, including the use of inadequate or outdated data in crash tests, as well as incorrect testing of airbag inflation. Toyota expects to sell 10.85 million vehicles for this fiscal year, down from more than 11 million vehicles last year.