Toyota sees US industry sales hitting 17 million again

Toyota Motor Corp sees the U.S. auto industry's annual sales reaching 17 million units again in the "not too distant future."

"We think the recovery will be shaped more like a Nike swoosh, with gradual improvement in 2009," Bob Carter, General Manager of Toyota U.S. division, said on Thursday.

U.S. auto sales plunged to a 16-year low of 12.55 million units on an annualized basis in July as high gasoline prices and tight credit sent the industry into a tailspin.

July sales marked the ninth-straight month of declining sales in the U.S. auto market, making it the longest such downturn since the 2001 recession.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Center for Automotive Research conference in Traverse City, Michigan, Carter said Toyota is seeing slight improvement in the U.S. light truck market so far in August.

"Versus last year, full-size trucks are still going to be down, but we are seeing some incremental improvement in July versus June and August versus July," he said. "It's not going to counteract the shift that we really started to see in April."

Sales of large trucks and SUVs in the United States fell rapidly starting in April as gas prices rose, leading many executives to say that a shift in consumer demand toward cars and away from larger vehicles was likely permanent.

Carter attributed the slight improvement in the truck market to a little relief from gas price increases and consumer adjustments to higher fuel prices.

Carter said many pickup truck customers are staying away from the market due to economic reasons, but are expected to return once the economy improves.

Toyota expects its U.S. sales to be down slightly in 2008 from 2007, but expects to have "a bigger piece of a smaller pie," Carter said. 

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