Headwinds for Japanese automotive giants as Toyota March sales fall on RAV4 decline

Global sales for Toyota Motors in March - figures that include subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor and Hino Motors - fell to 983,126 vehicles, a decline of 5.8 percent compared to March last year.

However, global production for the group increased by 3.9 percent to just over one million vehicles, although there is a high risk of production reductions because of supply-chain disruptions from the Iran war.

Japanese automakers typically source around 70 percent of the aluminum used in production from the war-torn oil-producing countries around the Persian Gulf.