Toyota racks up booming profit, vows to invest to keep growth going

Toyota has reported that its profit for the fiscal year that ended in March doubled over a year earlier, as strong vehicles sales and a favorable exchange rate lifted results for Japan’s top automaker. Toyota said Wednesday that its profit in the last fiscal year totaled 4.9 trillion yen, or $31.9 billion, while sales jumped 21%. Global sales surged to 9.4 million vehicles from 8.8 million vehicles in the year before. Hybrid sales were especially strong. A weak yen worked as a big plus for the maker of the Camry sedan, Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury models. Toyota expects to sell 9.5 million vehicles in this fiscal year.