Toyota Will Cut Domestic Production as Sales Plummet
August 26th, 2009Via: Bloomberg:
Toyota Motor Corp., Japan’s biggest automaker, plans its first long-term closure of a domestic assembly line as car sales in the country fall to the lowest in more than 30 years.
Toyota, which cut domestic production 49 percent through June, will reduce output by about 220,000 vehicles by shutting down a line at its Takaoka plant from the fiscal first quarter of next year through the second half of calendar year 2011, spokeswoman Ririko Takeuchi said by phone today.
Car demand has plummeted due to the global recession, forcing General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC into bankruptcy. Toyota, the world’s largest carmaker, earlier this month forecast a net loss of 450 billion yen ($4.8 billion) for the year ending in March. Toyota President Akio Toyoda, who took the helm in June, is slashing costs as he tries to avoid a third consecutive year of losses.
