Toyota Motor Co North America is reviewing its U.S. manufacturing strategy to account for idle capacity and shifting corporate priorities, including a desire to correct internal problems magnified by the industry's worst-ever downturn.
Yoshimi Inaba, Toyota's North American president, also told reporters on Monday the unprecedented restructuring of General Motors Corp and Chrysler Group were "good for the country" and would benefit Ford Motor Co (F.N). But he saw no significant role for the Obama administration in helping Toyota return to profitability.
"We should manage our own destiny," said Inaba, a former top sales executive who recently returned to the Japanese automaker.
"We are not short of cash," he said.
Inaba said the playing field for foreign manufacturers should be level and would not rule out Toyota applying at some point for Energy Department advanced technology loans. The $25 billion program was established last year mainly to help U.S. automakers make more fuel efficient vehicles but overseas manufacturers can also apply, if they meet certain criteria.
Ford and Nissan have received loans, while GM and Chrysler have not.
Toyota is a global leader in gasoline/electric hybrid design with its popular Prius.
With profits this year swamped by the recession-fueled sales downturn as Toyota's U.S. sales slid 32 percent in June, Inaba said Toyota has "good reason" to be optimistic about next year.
Inaba sees signs of improvement and expects overall industry U.S. sales to grow from just under 10 million units annually now to between 11 and 13 million units over the next year.
The United States has been Toyota's biggest and most profitable market until recently.
