22nd Dec - Toyota Eyes 3% Sales Jump In '11 On Strong Asian Growth

Toyota Motor Corp. is counting on strong sales in Asia to bring a second straight year of global sales growth in 2011.

The leading Japanese automaker on Tuesday set a global sales target of 7.7 million vehicles, up 3% from this year.

Toyota President Akio Toyoda, center, introduces the Etios small sedan in India early this month.

It aims for Asian sales to climb 11% to 2.06 million units next year after leaping 21% to 1.86 million units for 2010. In the U.S., sales would rise 9% to 1.9 million units in 2011, turning around from a 1% drop to 1.75 million units this year.

2010 marks Toyota's first year in which Asian sales exceed U.S. sales.

Its worldwide sales declined in 2008 and 2009 on the impact of the financial crisis. And although they appear set to record their first rise in three years in 2010, the firm's recovery has been hampered by extensive vehicle recalls.

In addition, the 2011 sales target comes in about 10% lower than the record 8.42 million units of 2007, and a shrinking domestic market is a big reason why Toyota has been struggling to recover to pre-crisis sales levels.

The company's Japanese sales are set to fall 17% to 1.3 million units next year, largely on the demise of government subsidies for environmentally friendly vehicles. This would make domestic sales account for 17% of Toyota's targeted global sales for 2011 -- just half of the 34% in 2000.

Still, Toyota is planning domestic production of 3.1 million units in 2011, down just 5% from the 3.28 million units for the current year.

Following a roughly 30% drop in Japanese output from the peak of 4.22 million units in 2007, the company aims to hold its domestic capacity down to around 3.2 million units in order to preserve jobs and its production base. So exports from Japan are expected to reach 1.8 million units in 2011, up 5% from the 1.71 million units estimated for 2010.

This increases Toyota's exposure to foreign exchange risk. But by cutting costs and reviewing production operations, the company is expected to generate roughly 60 billion yen in operating profit in the current October-March half even at 82 yen to the dollar.