Toyota Sees the Fed’s Pause Rescuing the Auto Market

Toyota Motor Corp. said the Federal Reserve putting interest rates on hold will be supportive to the U.S. auto market, which has slowed down in large part due to costlier borrowing costs.

The pause Fed Chairman Jerome Powell announced this month was the “right call” in the sense that it’ll help support car sales, Jim Lentz, chief executive officer of Toyota Motor North America, said in a phone interview Thursday. He predicted the U.S. auto sales rate in March may be in line with February’s pace, which was the slowest in 18 months.