Although Toyota, is locked in a showdown with General Motors to become the largest automaker in the world, the company has proved unable to escape the consequences of global economic shifting.

In a statement quoted by the Associated Press, Katsuaki Watanabe, president of Toyota, announced lowered sales forecasts on Thursday, August 28 and predicted reduced numbers through 2009. "We have been going at top speed up to now," he said. "It is time to set more cautious targets."

The revised predictions now have Toyota (including Daihatsu Motors and Hino cars) selling 9.7 million cars and trucks in 2009. Although still 2.1 percent higher than the forecast 9.5 million units for 2008, the figure is 700,000 units lower than original estimates.

The revision includes a 10 percent pull-back on expected U.S. sales to 2.7 million units. The company is being hit hard in the U.S. where it heavily emphasized trucks and SUVs, form factors that have fallen from favor with the general public in the fact of high gasoline prices and growing environmental concerns.

Overall, sales of automobiles have slumped in both North America and Western Europe, the world's two most important markets. Sales in the U.S. are down 10.6 percent for the January-July period over 2007 and European sales dropped 2 percent in the first six months of this year.