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Toyota Motor said on Tuesday it plans to halt production at all of its plants in Japan for a total of 11 days in February and March, hurt by the sharp deterioration in global demand for cars.
The cuts come on top of a three-day output suspension at its domestic plants this month.
Toyota, the world's biggest automaker, warned two weeks ago that it would post a first-ever annual operating loss, blaming a relentless sales slide and a crippling rise in the yen.
The company posted a 37 percent drop in its December U.S. sales, worse than Japanese rivals Honda Motor and Nissan Motor and even struggling Detroit automakers General Motors and Ford Motor.
A Toyota spokesman said his company has informed its suppliers that it plans to suspend operations at 12 plants in Japan for six days next month and five in March in response to the decline in demand. He declined to discuss the production cuts in terms of the number of vehicles.
Nissan Sees Tough US Q1, Plans to Hold Incentives
Separately, Nissan Motor plans reasonable sales incentives, its top sales executive in North America said.
"We think the first quarter is going to be the most difficult of the year," Al Castignetti, vice president for Nissan sales in North America, told Reuters in an interview.
Nissan, which posted a 31 percent sales decline in December and a nearly 11 percent decline for 2008, did not fare too badly against competitors in December or the industry overall in 2008, he said. Sales in the first half of 2008 saw only limited declines, but the bottom fell out as the year went on due to the sharp rise in gas prices and the recession, Castignetti added.
That means the months in the first half of 2009 will be compared to a more robust first-half of 2008, while comparisons become easier to meet in the second half.
He hoped consumer fears would settle and banks would ease their lending restrictions. He said there was better customer traffic levels in Nissan dealerships in December than in November.
"We think the first quarter is going to be a difficult one. The first quarter in the automotive industry generally, even during a robust year, is the most difficult," he said.
GM China Sales Growth Slows to 6.1% in 2008
General Motors said Tuesday its China vehicle sales including joint ventures rose 6.1 percent in 2008 to 1.09 million vehicles, marking a slowdown in growth as the economic downturn hit
automobile demand.
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The automaker had sold 1.03 million vehicles in the previous year, for growth of 18.5 percent.
"A series of natural disasters and an increase in fuel prices earlier in the year exacerbated the impact of the global economic downturn in China," Kevin Wale, president and managing director of the GM China Group, said in a statement.
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