Toyota to post its first sales drop in a decade

Japan’s largest automaker will likely sell 8.3 million units in 2008 on the parent level — excluding subsidiaries and affiliates — down from 8.43 million units in 2007, the Nikkei daily said, citing no sources.

Demand has been weak in the United States, Europe and Japan amid the global financial crisis and worries over an international economic slowdown, the paper said.

A Toyota spokesman could not be reached for comment. The company is expected to release its annual sales data in January 2009.

The company has been racing neck-and-neck with General Motors Corp. to be the world’s biggest automaker by global sales. Last year, Toyota’s group sales — including those from minicar maker Daihatsu Motor Co. and truck maker Hino Motors Ltd. — rose to 9.366 million vehicles, just shy of GM’s 9.37 million.

The Nikkei daily predicted Toyota’s group sales would dip to 9.3 million units this year.

Toyota enjoyed strong U.S. sales earlier this year on robust demand for fuel-efficient vehicles, but September sales there dropped 32 percent due to sluggish consumer spending.

Shares in Toyota fell 0.5 percent to 3,770 yen in early trade Wednesday.

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