Toyota raised its profit for the October-December quarter 7.5 percent from the previous year on booming sales in China, Europe and South America, it said Tuesday. Group profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31 rose to 458.6 billion yen (US$4.29 billion; ¤2.89 billion) from 426.7 billion yen in the same period the previous year. Toyota Motor Corp. _ whose rapid growth puts it in a neck-and-neck race against General Motors Corp. for the top spot in global vehicle sales _ sold 2.281 million vehicles the third fiscal quarter, up 5.8 percent from the same period a year ago. Quarterly sales for the maker of Camry sedans and Prius gas-electric hybrids totaled 6.710 trillion yen (US$62.79 billion; ¤42.34 billion), up 9.2 percent from 6.147 trillion yen a year earlier, according to a report of the Associated Press.
