Lately, news has been all about the domestic carmakers losing billions of dollars each month, yet for the first time in 70 years Toyota just announced that it lost money.  Toyota’s operating loss was $1.7 billion, which is a significant amount, however it doesn’t even come close to the amount that Ford, Chrysler, and GM have lost in the last few years.

It does signify, however, that the global auto market is in dire shape and companies that are typically strong will be struggling.  An analyst that the New York Times recently quoted claims that all carmakers will see similar results in time.  Toyota has predicted that they will have even more losses through next summer.

Apparently, Toyota has taken extreme measures to cut costs at its Japan headquarters, such as unplugging the electric hand dryers in its bathrooms.

Unfortunately, until the economy improves and people start buying new cars again the auto companies will suffer.  For now, people are hanging onto their current cars and signing up for emergency auto assistance programs in case of an emergency.