Jim Press, the first non-Japanese to join Toyota's ™ board, ruled out wage cuts for the company's U.S. auto workers and stressed the importance of the North American region as still holding growth potential.

Press dismissed a leaked memo, which discussed a need to cut labor costs, as " a conversation piece," adding that boosting efficiency is more effective in keeping costs down.

"Everybody is concerned about becoming more efficient, and making sure that the cost of labor doesn't get out of control" he told a small group of reporters at Toyota's Nagoya office."We don't plan to reduce wages."

He also denied a Wall Street Journal report earlier this week that said Toyota was so worried about overcapacity in North American production it was considering slowing down or even stopping building new plants there. He said there was no change to Toyota's plans to keep building cars where they are sold.

"Nobody in our company would ever come to a conclusion like what's stated in that article," Press said forcefully during an otherwise subdued interview.