DETROIT — Even Toyota Motor, Japan’s largest automaker, felt the pain in the first quarter from the collapsing market for big pickups and sport utility vehicles in the United States.

A shopper examines a Tundra pickup at a Toyota dealership in Aurora, Colo., in this 2007 photo. Sales of the Tundra dropped 15 percent in the second quarter, Toyota said Thursday.
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Toyota said Thursday that its worldwide net income for the quarter fell 28 percent, its biggest slide in profit in about five years. Most of the shortfall, the company said, was the result of slumping sales of its Tundra pickup truck and S.U.V.’s made and sold in North America.

Toyota said its net income fell to 353.7 billion yen, or about $3.2 billion, in the quarter, compared with 491.5 billion yen in the period a year earlier.

Revenue in the three-month period, which ended June 30, fell 4.7 percent, to 6.22 trillion yen.

While their overall results were hardly comparable to the $15.5 billion loss reported by General Motors and the $8.7 billion loss by the Ford Motor Company, Toyota still proved vulnerable to the sharp shift by American consumers from large vehicles into smaller, more fuel-efficient cars.

Through July, Toyota’s sales in the United States have fallen nearly 7 percent, while the overall market is down about 11 percent.

Sales of the Tundra have dropped 15 percent. The company has also run short on some of its hottest-selling models, like the Prius gas-electric hybrid car.

Toyota said that its net income in North America fell 57 percent, to 69.1 billion yen in the quarter.

The automaker improved its market share in the United States to 17.4 percent in the quarter, even as its sales volumes declined.

“Decrease in sales volume, the shift of product mix to compact cars, increase in sales expenses such as incentives and increase in reserves for bad debts, resulted in declining profits,” the company said in its earnings release. “Toyota will take swift action in accordance with market changes by increasing the supply of models in high demand and launching new models.”

The company has sharply cut production of the Tundra at its United States plants, and recently announced plans for its first Prius production in the United States.

Toyota also reported slower sales for the quarter in Japan and Europe, and increased sales in Asia and South America.

But over all, the quarter was an unusually difficult one for Toyota, which appears on track to pass G.M. this year as the world’s largest automaker.

“The financial results were severe, due to our rapidly changing business environment,” a Toyota Motor executive vice president, Mitsuo Kinoshita, said.

But the automaker said it was sticking to its forecast for results for the fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2009. The company projected net income of 1.25 trillion yen on revenue of 25 trillion yen.

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) — Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus ranked as the most dependable auto brand in the U.S. for a 14th straight year while Ford Motor Co.’s Mercury won back the No. 2 ranking in a study that shows vehicles are becoming more reliable.

Lexus logged just 120 complaints for every 100 vehicles, down from 145 last year, according to the annual Vehicle Dependability Study from J.D. Power & Associates. Mercury tallied 151 reported problems, 17 fewer than last year. The survey tracks consumer complaints for 3-year-old cars and trucks.

Lexus has been the nation’s top-selling luxury brand for eight straight years, underscoring Power’s contention that companies that consistently deliver the most reliable vehicles are rewarded by consumers.

“Understanding and minimizing quality deterioration is critical for manufacturers, as it is a key driver of owner satisfaction and word-of-mouth recommendations,” David Sargent, J.D. Power’s vice president of automotive research, said in a statement.

The study by the Westlake Village, California-based consumer research firm focused on 2005 models. It found the number of complaints per 100 vehicles fell to an average of 206, down from 216 in last year’s study, 227 the year before, and 237 before that.

Cadillac: #3

General Motors Corp.’s Cadillac retained the No. 3 spot with 155 reported problems, 7 fewer than the year before.

The Toyota brand, excluding Lexus, was fourth, at 159, followed by Honda Motor Co.’s premium Acura brand with 160.

GM’s Buick, which tied with Lexus for the top ranking in 2007, tumbled to sixth. Its owners had 163 complaints per 100 cars, up from 145 last year.

Five of the top 10 complaints for 3-year-old vehicles matched those that owners listed in Power’s 2005 Initial Quality Study. That survey measures customer responses 90 days after purchase. Among the most frequently cited flaws in new vehicles that year were excessive wind noise, noisy brakes and window fogging, Power said.

“Additional focus on these issues prior to vehicle launch would benefit not only consumers, but also automakers through increased customer satisfaction,” Sargent said.

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s BMW again was the study’s seventh-highest brand, reducing complaints to 164 from 182 a year ago. It was followed by Ford’s Lincoln at 165, also down from 182.

The Honda brand, No. 5 last year, dropped to ninth as complaints rose to 177 from 169. Ford’s Jaguar rounded out the top 10 brands, cutting complaints to 178 from 197 a year ago.

Three Ford brands — Mercury, Lincoln and Jaguar — were among the study’s top 10, the most of any manufacturer. Lexus and Toyota models were ranked highest in 11 individual vehicle segments, ahead of all other companies.

Ford completed the sale of Jaguar to India’s Tata Motors Ltd. in June.

J.D. Power is a unit of New York-based McGraw-Hill Cos., an information services provider.

The following table shows the scores of the top 10 brands that ranked above the industry average of 206 problems per 100 vehicles and their scores from last year’s Vehicle Dependability Study.

2008   Brand       Complaints Per 100 Autos
Rank                 2008           2007

1.     Lexus         120            145
2.     Mercury       151            168
3.     Cadillac      155            162
4.     Toyota        159            178
5.     Acura         160            207
6.     Buick         163            145
7.     BMW           164            182
8.     Lincoln       165            182
9.     Honda         177            169
10.    Jaguar        178            197
Industry average     206            216

Source: J.D. Power & Associates