Toyota's reputation for fuel-efficient cars was proving a boon at a time when drivers are balking at soaring gas prices, analysts said. Toyota Motor Corp., the world's second biggest automaker, is among a clutch of Japanese vehicle companies reporting robust results lately in contrast to the plight of the U.S. automakers.

"Everything is going well for Toyota, especially in North American sales," said Koji Endo, auto analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston Securities in Tokyo.

Endo said that in addition to robust sales of Toyota's smaller models such as the Corolla, the company's light trucks and Lexus luxury models which tend to produce healthier profit margins per vehicle have also been doing well, boosted by the perception that they're more fuel efficient than rival offerings.

Toyota's profit in April-June totaled 371.5 billion yen ($3.2 billion), up from 266.9 billion yen the same period the previous year, as a weaker yen also helped earnings, adding 100 billion yen ($871 million) to operating profit.

Quarterly sales surged 13 percent to 5.6 trillion yen ($49 billion) from 4.98 trillion yen a year earlier, according to the manufacturer, based in Toyota city in central Japan.