FILE PHOTO: The Toyota logo is seen on the bonnet of a newly launched Camry Hybrid electric vehicle at a hotel in New Delhi, India, January 18, 2019. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

(The 26 March story corrects paragraphs 1 & 2 to reflect forecast of 2.3 pct sales growth to 451,000 vehicles in 2019, not 0.9 pct sales growth to 445,000 vehicles as company had originally reported)

SAO BERNARDO DO CAMPO, Brazil (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Co expects its sales in South America and the Caribbean to rise 0.9 percent in 2019 compared with last year, Celso Simomura, vice president of Toyota’s Brazil operation, said on Tuesday.

He said Toyota expected to sell 445,000 vehicles across the region in 2019, up from 441,000 in 2018. Simomura added that growth had been higher in recent years, with 5.2 percent sales growth in 2018, and 6.9 percent growth in 2017, but did not give a reason for the slowdown.