Times must be tough in the automotive world when the global motoring success story of the last twenty years announces a profit warning. The Japanese corporation is predicting its first annual decline in profits in almost a decade and says it expects a 27% drop to 1,250b YEN (€8bn). Toyota says that the reduced profits are caused by a downturn in the US economy, as well as rising production and raw material costs. Despite this the carmaker expects to overtake General Motors to become the world’s biggest motor manufacturer this year.