Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

Toyota to cut annual output to 6.3m

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-26 15:03

TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp. aims to make 6.3 million vehicles in the fiscal year starting in April, a 27 percent drop from its peak output last fiscal year, Kyodo news agency reported Thursday.

Related readings:  Toyota to cut hours, offers buyouts to US workers  Toyota warns of bigger FY losses  Toyota sees first annual net loss since 1950  GM loses to Toyota as top global automaker

Toyota said the news report is not based on official information released by the company. Amid a deepening global economic downturn, the automaker has not yet unveiled output goals for the upcoming business year, said spokeswoman Ririko Takeuchi.

On Wednesday, the world's biggest automaker said its worldwide production in January slid 39.1 percent from a year earlier to 487,984 vehicles.

In the fiscal year through March 2008, Toyota made about 8.6 million vehicles worldwide.

Toyota is forecasting its first annual net loss since 1950 as plunging demand for cars, especially in the U.S., and the strong yen pummel earnings.

The company has tapped a member of the founding family, Akio Toyoda, to take over as president in hopes that the 52-year-old can engineer a turnaround.