Toyota may cut global sales goal to 9.5 mln: reports
DETROIT (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) may cut its 2008 global vehicle sales target by as much as 350,000 units to about 9.5 million because of declining sales in the United States, Japan and Europe, according to news reports.
The Nikkei reported in its Wednesday morning edition that Toyota plans to cut its global sales goal by 300,000 units to the lower 9.5 million level, while Kyodo News, citing a Toyota executive, said the automaker may cut its target by 350,000 units to 9.5 million.
Toyota will provide an update on its global sales target possibly next week, the executive, who was not identified, said, according to Kyodo.
"With slumps in Germany and other countries in Western Europe dragging on, growth in Russia is not enough to maintain our sales growth," a senior Toyota official said, according to The Nikkei.
A Toyota U.S. representative declined to confirm or deny the reports.
Toyota is revising its worldwide sales estimate partly because sales in the United States, its largest market, are slipping at a faster rate than anticipated due to high gas prices, the reports said.
The U.S. market accounts for some 40 percent of Toyota's worldwide profit.
Toyota's initial 2008 plan called for selling 9.85 million units, including those produced at two of its subsidiaries -- compact car-making Daihatsu Motor Co (7262.T) and truck-making Hino Motors Ltd (7205.T).
Hit by sinking demand for fuel-thirsty SUVs and pickup trucks, Toyota this month announced a big overhaul of its North American manufacturing structure to build more fuel-efficient cars.
Toyota now plans to build its Prius hybrid at a factory under construction in Mississippi from 2010.
(Reporting by Poornima Gupta; editing by Brian Moss and Phil Berlowitz)
