Toyota Motor Corp. aims to cut production costs of small cars by 100 billion yen ($1.0 billion) in 2012 by using the same chassis and parts for different models, the Nikkei newspaper said, without saying where it obtained the information.
The world's largest automaker aims to increase profits from shipments of fuel-efficient small cars, the newspaper reported.
Toyota posted an operating loss of 461 billion yen in the year ended March 31 because of a slump in sales of large, luxury vehicles, and expects loss may widen to 850 billion yen this fiscal year, the paper said.
The company is considering using the same chassis and parts for the 1 million small cars made in its domestic plants, including the Corolla and Vitz models, the Nikkei said.
