Tokyo  - Japan's largest carmaker, Toyota Motor Corp, pummeled by sharply falling demand, will cut its global sales target for next year by more than 1 million units to less than 8.5 million, news reports said Thursday.

Toyota expects a prolonged drop in demand in 2009 in Europe and the United States, while sales are expected to remain flat in Japan, the Nikkei business daily said.

Sales in the United States dropped by 34 per cent in November.

In August the group, which also includes Daihatsu Motor Co and Hino Motors, already lowered its sales target to 9.7 million units for 2009. The expected downward correction puts Toyota's sales on its lowest level since 2005, when the company sold 8.12 million vehicles world-wide, the Kyodo News agency said.

After years of expansion, Toyota in 2007 predicted a sales target of 10.4 million units for 2009, making the Japanese market leader the first carmaker to sell more than 10 million cars annually.

While Toyota sold 9.37 million vehicles in 2007, sales in 2008 contracted to about 9 million, Nikkei wrote.

Toyota is expected to officially release its 2009 sales target later this month. (dpa)