Toyota Motor domestic sales fall for first time in three years

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2005

TOKYO (AFP) — Toyota Motor's car sales in Japan will likely fall by 20,000 units from last year, marking its first year-on-year dip in three years, a business daily reports.

The world's number two automaker boasts a domestic market share of more than 40 percent but expects this year's sales to be 1.74 million, likely missing its sales goal for the first time in two years, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said.

The company had projected domestic sales of 1.8 million cars for 2005.

The demand for its mainstay Corolla compact and other major models has been undermined by competition from lower-priced cars, the paper said without naming the sources.

Its mainstay subcompact, the Vitz, underwent a face lift in February but failed to lure customers away from...