Toyota Motor Corp. is considering a major reorganization of its U.S. operations, bringing sales and manufacturing under one powerful executive, in an effort to keep closer tabs on its American business, which traditionally has been Toyota’s biggest source of profit but is now losing money.

The Japanese automaker’s top managers are expected to decide how to structure the U.S. operations this month, say people familiar with the situation. A decision would be formalized in June, at the same time that Toyota will anoint a new president in Japan, Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the company’s founder.
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March vehicle sales were still bad, but automakers expressed some cautious optimism Wednesday after the monthly tally showed a smaller year-over-year decline than most had been expecting and an improvement over February’s dismal numbers.

U.S. car and truck sales totaled 857,735 units last month — a 24 percent improvement over February’s total, but 36.8 percent less than the 1,356,926 vehicles sold in March of 2008.
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Honda’s global production in 2008 rose to a record high with booming demand in China offsetting sluggish sales in the United States and Europe, while worldwide output by Toyota slumped for the first time in seven years.

Japan’s No. 2 automaker said Wednesday it rolled out a record 3.96 million vehicles, up 1.2 percent year-on-year.
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