Toyota's total sales of 100,027 vehicles in February, representing an 8.7% decline, were slightly higher than the consensus forecast, with analysts projecting a decline of more than 10%.
The company said U.S. sales at its Toyota division fell 10.6% to 86,240 vehicles. Sales at the luxury Lexus division rose 5.2% to 13,787 vehicles.
Top Toyota executives faced another grilling by U.S. lawmakers on March 2 as the number of U.S. deaths blamed on defects in the company's vehicles rose to more than 50.
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee was holding the third hearing in one week on the world number-one carmaker's recall of more than eight million cars and trucks worldwide.
Toyota has said it will overhaul its quality-control measures, placing greater weight on the views of consumers and non-Japanese experts than in the past, creating a new U.S. safety post, and requiring its executives to do test drives.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010
See Also
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What Went Wrong at Toyota?
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