NAGOYA (Kyodo) Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda denied Monday the automaker is stepping up efforts to transfer production bases overseas even though the surging yen has made auto production costly at home.

"Logically, it doesn't make sense to manufacture in Japan," Toyoda told reporters in Nagoya. "But I feel a sense of crisis and worry what would happen to this country, which largely depends on manufacturing, if Toyota (scaled back production in Japan).

"I know that the present situation for manufacturing is very tough, but our Toyota group places much importance on maintaining production (bases in Japan)," the president said.

SMBC Mazda stake

Kyodo News

The president of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. said Monday the bank will make a decision on whether to purchase shares of Mazda Motor Corp. from Ford Motor Co. by the end of the year.

Ford has reportedly decided to sell the bulk of its 11 percent stake in the automaker.

Masayuki Oku also said SMBC won't sell any of its Mazda stake to another carmaker "for the time being" if it purchases shares from Ford.