Toyota’s net profit for the nine months to December 2010 nearly tripled despite a 39 percent fall in the third quarter.
Based on that, the maker of the popular Prius petrol-electric hybrid has raised its annual net profit forecast to ¥490 billion (R43 billion) from an earlier ¥350 billion (R30 billion), joining rival Honda in lifting its profit outlook on expectations of strong demand in emerging markets despite seeing third-quarter profit dive.
Japan's automakers have been hit by the impact of a strong yen, making their products more expensive compared to overseas rivals with comparatively cheaper domestic currencies.
The expiration of Japanese government subsidies to encourage consumers to buy more environmentally friendly cars in September 2010 also hit domestic demand.
Toyota saw third quarter net profit plunge to ¥93.6 billion (R8.2 billion) to ¥153.2 billion (R13.5 billion) in 2010.
However, the world's biggest automaker said net profit for the nine months to December soared 293.7 percent to ¥382.7 billion (R33.6 billion).
Analysts say the automaker is under pressure to regain consumer trust overseas, particularly in the United States, after a crisis involving millions of recalls, a wave of lawsuits and record fines.
Toyota ended 2010 losing market share to rivals in the United States - its second largest market by volume - even as overall sales recovered.
Previously lauded for its vehicles' safety, Toyota became mired in crisis when it recalled nearly nine million vehicles between late 2009 and February 2010 year on brake and accelerator defects blamed for dozens of deaths.
As criticism mounted of its slow response and bureaucratic inflexibility, Toyota tightened its recall policy and by January had pulled about 16 million units since late 2009 over a range of issues.
In the latest setback for the troubled auto giant, Toyota in January recalled 1.7 million vehicles worldwide over concerns about possible fuel leakages - Sapa-AFP