Toyota says uncertain if US market has hit bottom

NEW YORK, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Despite signs of steadier U.S. auto sales in August, it remains uncertain whether industrywide sales in the largest vehicle market have hit bottom, Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T)(TM.N) Vice Chairman Kazuo Okamoto said on Friday.

"It's hard to say whether the U.S. market has hit bottom," Okamoto told reporters.

Okamoto, speaking through a translator, also said that despite the recent decline in oil prices, Toyota, the world's largest automaker, was still assuming oil prices would be higher over the long term as the basis for its product planning. (Reporting by Soyoung Kim, writing by Kevin Krolicki; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)