Toyota Motor Corporation said today that its global sales fell 4% in 2008, the first drop in a decade, as demand slumped in recession-hit markets such as Japan, Europe and the US.
Toyota said it sold 8.97 million vehicles last year, including its subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino Motors Ltd. It was the first decline since 1998, a company spokeswoman said.
Meanwhile the company has named Akio Toyoda as its new president, turning to the grandson of its founder to rescue the company from its biggest ever crisis.
Toyoda, currently an executive vice president, will take the reins of Japan's biggest automaker in June, replacing Katsuaki Watanabe, who will become vice chairman. Fujio Cho will keep the post of chairman.
Toyoda, 52, has long been groomed for the top job. He will be the first member of the founding family in 14 years to become president, taking over at a crucial time for the company.
Toyota said its domestic sales slipped 5% to 2.15 million vehicles, while overseas demand weakened 4% to 6.82 million vehicles. The drop marked a dramatic turnaround from 2007, when Toyota's global sales had risen 6% to a record high 9.37 million vehicles.
The company had warned last month that it expected its first-ever annual operating loss as the global slowdown creates unprecedented difficulties for the long-profitable car maker.
Toyota, which vies with GM for the crown of the world's largest car maker, has moved to cut production, jobs and investment as a slump in sales and a soaring yen take a heavy toll on its finances.
It is considering shedding 3,000 more temporary workers at its domestic plants due to worsening sales, the Yomiuri newspaper reported today. In November Japan's top car maker had said it might halve its temporary payrolls to 3,000 by the end of March.
