TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan - Toyota is considering the idea of exporting U.S.-built vehicles overseas, most notably the Tundra pickup and the Sequoia SUV. The Japanese automaker may also cut some temporary U.S manufacturing jobs if the downturn in the U.S auto industry continues, according to media reports.

The word of Toyota's updated strategy came during the annual management briefing seminars here.

Steve St. Angelo, senior vice president of Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing in North America, said the automaker sees potentially good demand for its Tundra and Sequoia overseas. The Tundra is primarily built at the automaker's San Antonio assembly plant. The Sequoia, along with a small number of Tundras, is built in Princeton, Indiana.

Japanese automakers such as Honda and Toyota have been virtually immune to job layoffs in the past. So the suggestion that Toyota could downsize its temporary U.S. workers was a sobering shift in its strategy.

St. Angelo told Reuters that Toyota sees the chance of temporary job reductions, depending on a 'fluctuation in the market.' Temporary workers make up 10 percent of Toyota's 30,000-member U.S. manufacturing workforce.