Toyota raising prices on some models in US this month

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC saw double-digit U.S. sales declines last month compared with April 2007. Toyota's U.S. April sales, meanwhile, edged up 3 percent. But during the same period, Honda Motor Co.'s and Nissan Motor Co.'s U.S. sales were up about twice that much.

Nissan already raised U.S. prices in April by $170 to $480 on models including the Versa Hatchback, Altima sedan, 350Z Roadster and the Pathfinder sport utility vehicle. Honda said it has no plans so far to raise its U.S. prices.

Kawai said more time was needed to assess whether Toyota sales will continue to lag even after new models, including the remodeled Corolla, come out.

Toyota is also raising the U.S. prices of some Lexus luxury models. For example, the price of the Lexus IS 350 entry sports sedan will rise $300 to $36,305. The pricing of the 2008 Lexus IS F high-performance sports sedan won't change, Toyota said.