Toyota lifts annual profit forecast on strong U.S. sales, soft yen

Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> raised its annual net profit forecast by more than 10 percent to 860 billion yen ($9.3 billion) on strong sales of the Camry sedan and other vehicles in its biggest market the United States, as well as the yen's drop.

The world's biggest-selling carmaker reported a 23.5 percent year-on-year rise in third quarter net profit to 99.9 billion yen, below the average estimate of 143.7 billion yen among seven analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

In 2012 Toyota sold a record 8.72 million vehicles around the world. Its group-wide sales were also a record high of 9.75 million vehicles. The Toyota group also includes Daihatsu Motor Co Ltd <7262.T> and Hino Motors Ltd <7205.T>. ($1 = 92.6950 Japanese yen)

(Reporting by Yoko Kubota; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)