Toyota is heading for a record profit year, helped by the weaker Japanese currency which means money from its overseas sales is worth more when converted into yen.

The foreign exchange gains, as well as cost cutting mean, the world’s largest carmaker now expects an operating profit of 2.50 trillion yen(17.5 billion euros) for the business year through to the end of March.

In July-September there was an 8.0 percent fall in the Japanese currency which in early November passed the 113 yen to the dollar mark for the first time since December 2007.

“Of course exchange rates helped, but we also made efforts to offset negatives such as a rise in fixed costs, with cost-cutting and sales efforts,” Executive Vice President Nobuyori Kodaira told a news conference.

Toyota slightly raised its forecast for the US, its biggest market, where sales have been strong spurred by the economic recovery there. Its forecast for North America was upped to 2.74 million vehicles from 2.71 million.

In contrast to other manufacturers, it has also seen rising sales in recent months in China and aims to boost sales there by at least a fifth to over 1.1 million vehicles this year together with its joint venture partners China FAW Group.

Honda and Nissan have recently cut their sales outlooks citing a sluggish economy.

with Reuters