Toyota has announced that its Japanese sales will likely fall short of earlier forecasts. Toyota’s president, Katsuaki Watanabe, said 2007 sales would likely total 1.65 million, about 4% below the sales target of 1.72 million units. However, Toyota still expects to hit its global sales target of 9.34 million.
Toyota says the decline is due to the downturn in the Japanese small car market, which has declined 3.8% through the first nine months of 2007.
According to The Australian, Toyota has sold 4.7 million Toyota, Lexus , Daihatsu and Hino brand vehicles worldwide during the first part of 2007, an 8% increase over last year. The brand’s overall Japanese sales are down 6% compared to last year.
