Toyota Motor Corp., which built 45 percent of its cars in Japanlast fiscal year, may need to produce a greater proportion overseasas the yen trades near a record against the dollar.

“How much longer should we insist on producing in Japan?” saidChief Financial Officer Satoshi Ozawa, seated next to PresidentAkio Toyoda at a press conference in Tokyo today. “I feel stronglythat our efforts may have exceeded the limits of what is possiblein dealing with the yen's impact.”

While Toyoda said he wants to protect jobs and Japan'smanufacturing culture, the automaker's profitability is sufferingwith the yen close to a post-World War II high and German and SouthKorean rivals benefiting from weaker currencies and free tradeagreements. The currency and the impact of Japan's recordearthquake contributed to Toyota's fourth-quarter profit falling 77percent from a year earlier, the company said.