Asian markets mixed as automakers come under pressure after Donald Trump’s warning to Toyota
Toyota sales saw a strong rise in sales during the year despite the fall in profits. Reuters

Automotive giant Toyota reported a net profit of ¥1.83tn (£12.4bn, $16.1bn ) for the financial year that ended March 31, 2017. The profit figures saw a fall of 21% compared to the previous year.

Volkswagen had replaced Toyota as the global leader in car sales in January by narrowly outperforming Toyota's sales numbers, according to a report by the BBC.

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Automotive sales saw a strong rise during the year despite the fall in profits. Sales in Japan went up by 10.75% to 2,273,962 units .Excluding mini vehicles, cars under the Toyota and Lexus brand captured 47.8% of the nation's automotive market share during the fiscal year.

Toyota witnessed an increase of 18.07% in sales to 1,587,822 units across Asia. The rise in Chinese sales was largely attributed to the government's tax cut on small cars. European sales also increased by 9.49% during the year.

Executive Vice President Osamu Nagata outlined that the operating income decrease of 30.1% to 1.99tn was the result of foreign exchange rates and swap valuation estimations.

"Excluding the overall impact of foreign exchange rates and swap valuation gains and losses, operating income improved by 120 billion yen year on year, as a result of profit improvement activities throughout the year", he said.

The earnings statement maintains a steady growth outlook in both developed and emerging markets for the coming year. The report also highlighted the changing landscape of the automotive market due to developments in technology and new entrants breaking into the market.