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 The tax hike to 8 percent from 5 percent is widely expected to spur
a pickup in consumer spending before it goes into effect on April 1,
followed by a temporary slump when it kicks in.
The tax increase, engineered by the previous opposition
administration but given final approval by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
and urged by IMF officials and global credit ratings agencies, aims
to rein in Japan's huge public debt even at the risk of slowing the
economy in the short term.
Toyota plans to manufacture around 12,200 vehicles a day in the
month of April, down 15 percent from a year ago, the source told
Reuters.
In January, the world's biggest carmaker has planned daily
production up 4 percent year-on-year while February and March output
are planned to rise 3 percent, the person added, speaking on
condition of anonymity because the production plans are not made
public.
Toyota spokesman Naoki Sumino said the company does not disclose its
monthly production plans.
The Nikkei business daily reported that Toyota planned to make
around 12,000 vehicles daily in Japan in April.
Toyota announced last week that it would trim full-year production
in Japan this year by 6 percent to 3.15 million vehicles.
Toyota executives have said that a decline in sales following the
tax hike would be inevitable. "Of course we adjust daily run rates," said a company official with
knowledge of the matter. "I wouldn't read too much into it."
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The company's president, Akio Toyoda, said this month that he wanted
to limit the duration of the tax hike's hit to sales to no more than
three months.
"We want to make it so that from July we can see an upturn in the
mood," he told reporters.
The tax increase, which will help pay for rising healthcare costs,
has prompted consumers to bring forward purchases of homes, cars,
other durable goods and luxury items before they become more
expensive.
A Reuters corporate survey in late November and early December found
that almost half of the respondents expected the negative impact of
the tax hike on consumer spending to have faded within six months.
(Additional reporting by Norihiko
Shirouzu in Beijing; editing by Edmund Klamann and Jeremy Laurence)
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