News Summary: Toyota in the driver's seat
Toyota raises annual forecasts, reports quarterly profit rose 23 percent on US sales jump
REARVIEW MIRROR: Toyota put more distance between it and a year racked by natural and manmade disaster, releasing a profit forecast triple that of what it earned in the previous year.
TALE OF RECOVERY: Toyota's recovery is being repeated at other Japanese automakers, which saw production disruptions from the March 2011 tsunami and earthquake in northeastern Japan. The natural disaster was compounded by a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant, which helped knock Toyota from its spot as the world's biggest automaker.
TALE OF THE TAPE: Toyota's profit jumped 23 percent to $1.09 billion in the last quarter. sales edged up 9 percent to $58 billion. The company is now expecting fiscal year profit of $9.3 billion). It had initially expected a $8.5 billion profit.
