TOKYO -(Dow Jones)- Faced with the possibility of the slump in auto demand dragging on for months, Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.TO) plans to idle some of its global production lines as it rushes to cut costs in a bid to return to profitability.

A spokesman for the world's biggest car maker by sales volume said Wednesday that Toyota will halt the No. 2 production line at its Takaoka plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, from the spring of 2010.

Toyota is also considering suspending one of two lines at its Derbyshire auto plant in the U.K.,a person familiar with the matter said.

Toyota is also examining other places where it can cut down on excess production. It is still in talks on pulling out from its 50:50 U.S. joint auto- production venture with the former General Motors Corp.

Toyota executives have said they want to close a jointly-held assembly plant in California to bring greater efficiency to its U.S. operations. But such a move faces a number of hurdles, including hundreds of millions of dollars in potential closure costs.

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Dick Milde