Toyota Motor said on Monday that global vehicle sales slipped for a fourth consecutive month in May, as decreases in China and the Middle East weighed on overall results. • Global sales dropped 7.2% year-on-year to 834,279 vehicles, Toyota said in a release. Overseas sales fell 9.6%, while those in Japan rose 11.1%, helped by strong demand for models such as RAV4 and bZ4X. • By region, sales in China plunged 31.7% amid tough market conditions, partly due to rising petrol prices, while those in the Middle East slumped 38.6%. In the U.S., Toyota's top market, they edged down 0.6%. • Global production declined 5.5% from a year earlier, as a 3.8% drop in the U.S. and a 13.3% decrease in Asia offset a rise in Japan.