Toyota Motor sees U.S. auto market new vehicle sales at 16.8 million units in this year, Jim Lentz, the automaker’s top executive in North America informed Reuters on Wednesday.
U.S. new car sales dropped 2 percent in last year to around 17.23 million units, after striking a record high of 17.55 million units in 2016, and are widely anticipated to fall even more in 2018.
“We think it is going to continue to drop a little, most likely around 16.8 (million units) for the industry,” Lentz informed Reuters on the sidelines of an event to reveal a joint $1.6 billion auto plant with Mazda Motor in Alabama.
The drop in sales in 2017 and expected further decline this year has raised concerns of over-supply of unsold new vehicles, which would push automakers to cut prices.
Lentz stated Toyota has aligned its own stocks of unsold vehicles with its forecasts for overall U.S. market sales in 2018.
“We remain in good shape,” he stated.
