Toyota Motor Corp.'s production cuts will cause bankruptcies among suppliers if the government restricts aid to large manufacturers, a car parts group said.

Suppliers "are extremely worried that the loans will be limited to the top-tier companies," Hisataka Nobumoto, chairman of the Japan Auto Parts Industries Association, said Thursday. "If the current sales environment continues, various outcomes, bankruptcies included, will result."

February auto sales in the United States, the world's largest car market, slid to the lowest rate since December 1981, with Toyota's sales sinking 40 percent and Honda Motor Co.'s tally dropping 38 percent.