IN BRIEF (Page 17)

Toyota sales slide 13%

Toyota Motor Corp, the world's biggest carmaker, said 2009 vehicle sales including those of affiliates fell 13 percent as the global recession sapped demand.

Toyota sold 7.81 million vehicles worldwide last year, compared with 8.97 million a year earlier, the company said. Sales declined in the US and Japan, Toyota's two biggest markets, while rising in China, which passed the US as the world's largest auto market last year. Falling demand for Toyota cars compares with record sales last year for Volkswagen AG, which aims to overtake the Japanese carmaker in global sales by 2018. Europe's largest carmaker sold 6.29 million cars and sport-utility vehicles worldwide, an increase of 1.1 percent from 2008, sales chief Christian Klingler said.