Toyota Motor Corp. expects its global sales to fall by seven percent in the next business year to March 2010 due to the economic crisis, a report said Monday.
The company anticipates sales of slightly more than seven million vehicles, against an expected 7.54 million in the current business year and 8.91 million the previous year, the Nikkei business newspaper said in its evening edition.
Toyota, seen as a symbol of Japanese manufacturing prowess, has not escaped the slump in demand that is battering the world car industry.
Another Japanese newspaper, the Tokyo Shimbun, reported Sunday that Toyota will cut production by 20 percent this year as it tries to cope with falling worldwide demand.
A Toyota spokeswoman declined to confirm or deny the reports.
“We maintain our view that it is extremely difficult to read the conditions of the global markets now,” she said.
Toyota overtook General Motors in 2008 to become the world's top selling automaker, but only because the Detroit giant's sales fell faster than its own.
The Japanese company has moved to lower production, cut jobs and appoint a new president from its founding family in response to its biggest ever crisis.
Toyota last month forecast a first-ever annual operating loss of 150 billion yen (1.7 billion dollars). It is scheduled to report its results for the fiscal third quarter on February 6.
