STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Monday, 29 October 2012

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7. APNEWSBREAK: TOYOTA HEADED TO RECORD GLOBAL SALES

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_TOYOTA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-10-29-05-51-41

TOKYO (AP) -- Toyota is shrugging off a sales plunge in China set off by a territorial dispute and says it is headed to a record year on the back of strong growth in the rest of Asia and the U.S.

Toyota Motor Corp. Executive Vice President Yukitoshi Funo acknowledged Monday that achieving the company's target of 9.76 million vehicle sales this year will be harder because of the problems in China. Violent protests and a call to boycott Japanese goods erupted after Tokyo nationalized tiny islands that are controlled by Japan but claimed by Beijing.

Toyota's sales in China the last couple of months have fallen to about half of what they were a year earlier. Initially, Toyota had expected to sell 1 million vehicles in China this year. Achieving that is now unlikely.

But Funo, who oversees Toyota's Asian operations, expressed confidence overall global vehicle sales will hit a record, surpassing the record 9.37 million vehicles sold in 2007, because growth in other parts of the world will offset the losses in China.