Toyota says subprime crisis won't hit US sales

Fast-growing Toyota Motor Corp said Thursday it was keeping its sales target this year for the US market, saying the effects of a housing sector crisis there would be temporary.

The Japanese giant is jostling with General Motors to come out this year as the world's best-selling automaker. The recovering Detroit giant has held the title for seven decades.

"We now expect the US car market to shrink slightly this year compared with the previous year, while Toyota continues to strive to meet its initial target," Toyota Motor president Katsuaki Watanabe told reporters.

"Toyota has been outperforming the market by a modest margin," he said.

Toyota has benefitted from strong sales in the United States as sky-high prices at the pump boost demand for compact cars, small sport-utility vehicles and hybrids.

Global markets have seen tumult this month over US "subprime" mortgages -- loans extended to customers with bad credit histories who now cannot repay.

The crisis has raised fears of a credit crunch as exposed lenders try to make up their losses.

The US Federal Reserve calmed the market with an emergency cut of its discount rate for commercial banks on August 17, although turbulence briefly returned this week.

"Subprime loan problems apparently played a key role in causing the drop in US car sales below their year-ago level in July. The Fed's quick action seems to have limited further impact of the subprime problem," Watanabe said.

He also said that the company planned to meet its targets for the July-September quarter in Japan, where demand has been sluggish.

Toyota's domestic sales fell in July by 7.7 percent from a year earlier due largely to a major earthquake in Japan that temporarily suspended production.

Watanabe was speaking at the unveiling of Toyota's new sports utility vehicle, Vanguard, which will be sold exclusively in Japan.