Toyota cuts managers' bonus pay

Toyota is slashing bonus pay for managers as the Japanese automaker tackles a massive recall in the United States and deep losses for the second straight fiscal year.

Toyota Motor Corp said yesterday winter bonus payments for 8,700 managers in Japan will be cut by 20 percent.

Japanese workers at major companies such as Toyota get twice-a-year bonus pay in addition to their monthly salaries which reflects the company's performance.

Toyota announced in the US on Wednesday a massive recall affecting 4 million vehicles to replace the gas pedals that can get stuck in the floor mats and cause sudden acceleration.

The recall, Toyota's largest ever in the US, comes at a time when the maker of the Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury car is trying to reverse losses caused by a global slump and strengthening yen.

Earlier this month, Toyota lowered its loss forecast for the fiscal year through March 2010 to 200 billion yen ($2.2 billion) from its initial projection for a 450 billion yen ($5 billion) loss.

The world's biggest automaker had just managed to crawl back into the black for the July-September quarter following three straight quarters of red ink as government stimulus measures helped boost global sales of green vehicles.

Toyota's top executives and board have already given up their bonus pay.

The cuts for managers follow a 60 percent year-on-year decline for their summer bonus this year, and a 10 percent cut for their winter bonus in 2008.

Source: China Daily