Toyota Motor yesterday cut its 2009 sales forecast by 700,000 vehicles, about 7 per cent, as it acknowledged that the downturn in the US car market would last at least until the end of next year. It now expects to sell 9.7m cars and trucks worldwide next year instead of 10.4m.

Toyota, Japan's leading carmaker, said there had been a "structural change" in demand in the US, the world's biggest car market, as the high cost of fuel pushed customers away from large trucks and 4x4 vehicles, suggesting that lower sales in those once-profitable segments would continue beyond the economic downturn.