There was some alarm a couple of weeks ago when Toyota Motor Co. announced that it was cutting back on production of its Tundra truck and Sequoia sport utility vehicle.

If the Japanese automaker is cutting production, does that mean that the $1.3 billion plant it’s building in Northeast Mississippi is in danger of being scuttled, some wondered? The mid-sized Highlander SUV will be built at the Blue Springs plant, so some of the worried thinking was that a ripple effect could mean potential problems with building the plant.

Rest your fears - that isn’t happening, barring a complete collapse of the auto industry and an implosion of the world’s second-largest automaker.

So why cut production of the Tundra and Sequoia? While sales of the hulking vehicles are higher than a year ago, Toyota expects demand to slow. Given the higher gas prices and other economic worries the move is in anticipation that consumer spending will pull back on big-ticket items.

Tundra sales were, in fact, nearly 17 percent higher in March than a year earlier. Sequoia sales were up nearly 20 percent. So it’s not like the bottom was falling out. However, total Toyota SUV sales - which include the FJ Cruiser, 4Runner, Highlander, Land Cruiser and Sequoia - were down nearly 20 percent in March and 15 percent for the year.

Highlander sales, by the way, were down 0.2 percent in March but were up more than 7 percent for the year.

And while Toyota will be trimming production, it’s not laying anybody off.

Other automakers off, too

But Toyota wasn’t the only automaker to post a less-than-stellar truck and SUV sales in March.

GM’s truck and SUV sales dropped 22 percent in March; its Hummer brand sales were down 29 percent.

At Ford, sales for trucks and large SUVs fell 17 percent. Even its popular F-Series pickup, the best-selling truck for 31 years, were down 24 percent.

Chrysler’s light truck sales fell nearly 22 percent. Its Jeep brand had sales drop 12 percent.

Honda’s truck and SUV sales declined 12 percent.

Nissan’s truck and SUV sales dropped 20 percent. The company’s Titan pickup plummeted 45 percent while its Armada SUV plunged 43 percent

Auto analysts say - no surprise - that small car sales are faring much better, with four-cylinder vehicles gaining in popularity.

Will auto sales improve? Some automakers are hopeful that the economic stimulus package that consumers will be getting in the next few months will spur buying.

Some rough months likely are still ahead for the industry before it gets better.

But thankfully, the building continues in Blue Springs. And in Dorsey and Baldwyn.

Toyota Motor Corp and General Motors Corp are recalling more than 662,000 vehicles sold in the United States due to defects in power windows, the two companies said on Wednesday.

Toyota will recall 539,500 Corolla and Matrix vehicles for the 2003 and 2004 model years, it said in a statement.

GM said it would recall 122,598 Pontiac Vibe hatchbacks, which share the same platform with Toyota’s Matrix and are built by GM in a joint venture with the Japanese automaker.

On vehicles equipped with power windows, the driver and front passenger glass bolts may loosen and cause the door glass to separate from the window regulator, Toyota said. Vehicles equipped with manual windows are not subject to the recall.

Toyota will notify vehicle owners by mail, beginning in late April. It advised owners to contact their local Toyota dealer for inspection and repairs.

Replacement of the driver and front passenger door glass bolts will be done at no charge, Toyota said.

USA Today reports, “Nissan says it will stop making the Quest minivan and its full-size SUV, the Infiniti QX56,” instead using the factory that currently makes the vehicles to produce “light commercial vehicles.”  Nissan “did not say when or where —or if — it will build next-generation versions of the minivan and big SUVS, which are slow sellers in declining market segments,” meaning production of the vehicles may cease altogether.  Nissan spokeswoman Frederique Le Greves told reports, “When we get to the end of each vehicle’s cycle, we look at the market” and decide whether to offer new versions of the vehicles.

While Nissan insists it has not made a formal decision to remove the vehicles from its lineup, the move may be a prelude to doing just that.  Kicking Tires comments, “Sounds to us like company speak that Nissan will not build new versions of the two. If it actually announced that fact today, though, it could impact sales of the 2009 models that will still be built and sold on new-car lots.”

The AP recently reported that Nissan suffered a 4-percent sales decline in the first quarter of 2008, and poor minivan and SUV sales were part of the reason for the drop.  “Nissan’s truck and SUV sales plummeted 20 percent, with the Nissan Titan pickup down 45 percent for the month and the Nissan Armada SUV [the QX 56 is a modified Armada] off 43 percent.”

USA Today called the Quest “an also-ran in the shrinking minivan market, with sales down about 38% the first quarter vs. a year ago, according to Autodata. Its sales rank it eighth among nine vans currently in production, behind even the nearly invisible Mazda5 mini-minivan.”  The QX45, meanwhile, “sells in such small numbers that it ranks 80th of 102 SUVs currently in production.”

Research the current models, and their competition, with U.S. News’ rankings and reviews of minivans and luxury large SUVs.