Toyota Motor has announced plans to cut production next year. The decision comes amid continued slow sales.

Toyota Motor has lowered its global production plans for 2011, after a sluggish recovery in U.S. sales.

The Asahi Shimbun says the top car maker is cutting production by about 200,000 units, bringing next year's target to 7.8 million vehicles.

Toyota was the only major auto brand to report a fall in U.S. sales last month.

The revision means Toyota's global production would fall short of 8 million units for the third straight year.

The figure excludes its Daihatsu Motor arm and truckmaking unit Hino Motors.

Toyota does not release calendar year production plans, but in the first 10 months of this year, Toyota's global output was 6.37 million units, matching the result for all of 2009.

However, Toyota and its Japanese rivals' sales were helped by government subsidies for fuel-efficient vehicles.

These expired in September and new car sales have since fallen for three straight months.

Latest sales figures released Monday by auto trade groups showed a 2.2 percent fall in sales of Toyota's Prius in Japan, though the hybrid remains the best-selling car in the domestic market for an 18th consecutive month.

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