Toyota Motor Corp. raked in $14 billion in profits last year, a record sum likely to extend the Japanese giant's competitive edge over Detroit's struggling automakers.

Toyota also forecast a small profit rise Wednesday for the fiscal year begun on April 1, despite increasingly tough market conditions that are battering the U.S. auto industry as it strives to restructure itself.

Toyota said last year's 20 percent earnings rise reflected brisk sales of fuel-efficient cars, cost reductions and the benefits of a weak yen on its export business. ... Toyota earns much of its income in the United States, where it has a younger work force and lower expenses than U.S. automakers saddled with the legacy costs of an old industry and aging work forces.

In cost comparisons with Japanese automakers, "the Americans are out of whack by anywhere between $1,000 and $4,000 per car," Hossack said.