Toyota to cut passenger car production in China

Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp., Japan's biggest carmaker, will cut production in China as sales slow in the country, the Nikkei newspaper reported.

The carmaker will reduce output of passenger cars by about 10 percent at its factory in Guangdong province, Nikkei said today, without saying where it obtained the information. Toyota will slow the pace of production for at least a few months, the newspaper said.

Toyota spokesman Hideaki Homma couldn't be contacted immediately at his office or by mobile phone.

China's passenger car sales fell 6.2 percent in August, the first decline in more than three years, as the Beijing Olympics and a slumping stock market prompted drivers to delay purchases.

Sales may fall short of a forecast 10 million this year as slowing economic growth and a slumping stock market undermine consumers' purchasing power, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Guangzhou Toyota Motor Co., Toyota's local venture, will meet its 2008 sales target even as overall industry growth slumps, Feng Xingya, executive vice president of Guangzhou Toyota, said on Sept. 24.

The company, which almost tripled sales in 2007, targets a 24 percent increase to 210,000 cars this year.

Guangzhou Toyota's sales rose 4 percent in August to 13,781 to rank ninth among Chinese carmakers. The company had about 4 percent of China's car market last year.