Toyota global output skids in June, dragged down by Japan and China

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota's global production tumbled in June, down for a fifth straight month with the automaker hit hard by a certification scandal in its home market and a fierce price war in China.

Output worldwide for Japan's biggest automaker slid 12.9% to 795,862 vehicles, the sharpest decline since December 2022.

In its home market, output plunged 18.8% after the transport ministry found irregularities in applications by Toyota and other automakers to certify certain models in a widening of an auto safety scandal.

In China, where domestic electric vehicle makers like BYD have rapidly gained market share and have aggressively cut prices, production fell 21.7% - marking the fifth month in a row where Toyota's output has declined by 20% or more.

Production in North America fell 6.2% while in Europe it dropped 6.6% due to fewer production days compared to last year.

Toyota's worldwide sales fell 5.1% during the month, hurt by declines in Japan and China.

The automaker is due to report first-quarter financial results on Thursday. It is expected to log a 21% rise in operating profit from a year earlier to 1.35 trillion yen ($8.7 billion), according to an LSEG consensus estimates from six analysts, helped by a weaker yen and robust demand for hybrid vehicles in the United States.

During the first six months of this year, the automaker's global production fell 5% while worldwide sales dipped 0.9%.

Both sales and production figures include the luxury Lexus brand.

($1 = 154.0800 yen)

(Reporting by Daniel Leussink and Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)