Top carmakers move past airbag woes

Article Excerpt

Faulty airbag inflators made by Takata Corp. have forced Toyota to recall 8.1 million vehicles since 2008, while Honda has had to fix 20 million cars. However, these recalls likely won’t damage Toyota and Honda’s reputations or sales, as other big carmakers have also used Takata’s defective equipment. Meanwhile, both companies should keep benefiting from a low Japanese yen, which makes their products cheaper in foreign markets. TOYOTA MOTOR CO. ADRs $135 (New York symbol TM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $216.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.toyota.com) is the world’s largest carmaker. In its 2015 fiscal year, which ended March 31, 2015, Toyota sold 8.97 million vehicles, down 1.6% from 2014. North American sales rose 7.4%, thanks to strong demand for sport utility vehicles. European sales gained 1.8%. However, sales fell 8.9% in Japan and 7.5% in other parts of Asia. Revenue declined 3.4%, to…