Toyota | featured news

Toyota is shutting the California factory it ran with General Motors for 25 years -- the first time the Japanese automaker is closing a major auto assembly plant ever.

Sales under the U.S. government's "cash for clunkers" auto incentive topped 180,000 with Toyota Motor Corp overtaking Ford Motor Co with the top-selling vehicle, officials said on Wednesday.

Toyota Motor Corp. got 180,000 orders for the new Prius hybrid in Japan in just a month, far surpassing its target of 10,000 vehicles in monthly sales, the automaker said Friday.

The third-generation Prius, which rolled out a month ago, has been a big hit here, partly because of tax-breaks and other new government incentives that are meant to perk growth during the nation's downturn.

The automaker blames a prolonged slump in global demand and a strong Japanese yen, and says this year will be even worse.

Toyota Motor Corp.’s US sales fell less than analysts predicted last month as the world’s largest carmaker offered near-record incentives to spur demand.

General Motors is no longer the world's top-selling carmaker after it saw 2008 sales fall below those of Japanese rival Toyota.