Toyota To Export US-Built Sequoias, Tundras To LatAm, Mideast

Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) said it will export its U.S.-built Sequoia and Tundra vehicles to Latin America and the Middle East, the first time the auto maker is shipping them overseas as the company looks to offset slumping U.S. demand.

Exports of the Sequoia sport-utility vehicle and Tundra pickup are slated to start in December and come as total U.S. auto sales are seen falling in 2008 to the lowest levels since at least the early 1990s.

Some 15,000 Sequoias - made in Indiana - a year are projected to be shipped to the Middle East. Latin America is slated to get 150 units of the SUV and 1,000 Tundras, manufactured in San Antonio. Both plants have been shut since August and will reopen early next month.

Toyota, which has been exporting small numbers of U.S.-made vehicles for 20 years, reported a 32% slump in September sales. Earlier this decade, in a bid to boost its U.S. profits and market share, Toyota launched a big push into full-size pickup trucks and SUVs, Detroit's remaining cash cows.

But surging gasoline prices earlier this year depressed sales of such vehicles, and the worsening credit crunch has generally made things worse. As a result Toyota is stuck with more production capacity in the U.S. than it needs, a problem that has long afflicted the Big Three.

American depositary shares of Toyota were recently up 7.4% to $77 amid a 10% surge by Toyko's Nikkei 225 stock index.

-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5285; John.Kell@dowjones.com

(Norihiko Shirouzu and Kate Linebaugh of The Wall Street Journal contributed to this story)