Looks like Ford and Chrysler aren't the only ones with surprisingly good financial news recently.

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that Toyota has gotten in on the act, reporting on Thursday a surprise profit that lets it cut its red ink for the year in half.

The $242 million profit posted for the July through September quarter is the first good news for the company after three straight losing quarters. The article notes that Honda and Nissan also posted better-than-expected results, and we've reported here over the last week that Ford and Chrysler both recently released healthy statements. The end result: It may be easier to believe recent reports that the auto industry is pulling out of the worst slump in recent memory.

Part of that uptick for Toyota specifically comes from its strong increased presence in China, where Toyota sales are up 39 percent over the same period last year. The Chinese auto market is expected to surpass the U.S. as the world's biggest this year.

While the "recovery" isn't necessarily that (overall, Toyota's annual sales are still down 7 percent), the news does bode well for both Toyota and the industry as a whole. And after reporting a lot of dismal news, we were wondering when we'd be able to write something to that effect.