The Detroit News reported that Toyota’s top executive in the United States said that the company was reviewing its entire operation here, including whether to close a factory in California and when to open a factory in Mississippi.

In an hour-long interview with reporters at Toyota’s Washington office, Yoshimi Inaba said Toyota is not profitable in North America despite cost cutting in the organization.But he said he hopes the company could be profitable in its next fiscal year in North America.

Inaba, who is president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor America and chairman and CEO of Toyota Motor Sales USA, is taking up his responsibilities at a crucial time for the Japanese automaker. Toyota’s sales have fallen 38 percent in the first six months of the year — to 770,000 cars and trucks from nearly 1.25 million vehicles in the first six months of 2008. U.S. industry auto sales fell 35 percent in the first half of the year.

When Toyota starts talking about closing plants and or not opening new ones, then times are not only tough, they’re dire.