Toyota sees 2009 global output down 20 pc

TOKYO: Toyota Motor expects to produce 6.5 million vehicles globally on a parent company basis this year, down more than 20 per cent from estimated 8.2 million last year, the Chunichi newspaper reported on Sunday.

It would be the carmaker's lowest production volume since 2003-2004, the daily said. It is setting a global sales target for the year of about seven million vehicles, the paper said.

Toyota is planning to produce fewer vehicles than it aims to sell because it has a high level of inventories to clear, the newspaper said.

In Japan, Toyota is aiming to cut its parent-company production to around three million vehicles, down from an estimated four million last year, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported on Monday.

If global car market conditions deteriorate further, the company's Japan output could be cut below the three million mark, a level Toyota sees as the minimum required in keeping the employment of full-time staff at the current level, the newspaper said. It would also be the lowest production in Japan by Toyota since 1979, when it rolled out 2.99 million units, Yomiuri said.