TOKYO, JAPAN - Toyota Motor Corp , faced with a deep slump in the U.S. auto market, is considering postponing plans to start production at a plant it is building in Mississippi until 2011 or later, the Nikkei business daily reported.

The plant was originally scheduled to begin operating in 2010.

The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression has sent car sales tumbling in the developed world and slammed the brakes on growth in emerging markets, dealing a blow to automakers everywhere.

Goldman Sachs on Thursday suspended its rating on General Motors and said the automaker needs at least $22 billion in federal aid, while Chrysler said it would be "very difficult to survive" without government support.

Toyota had originally planned to produce the Highlander SUV at the Mississippi factory but decided this year to build the popular Prius hybrid instead, as high gasoline prices slashed demand for gas-guzzling vehicles in the United States.

But the weakening economy has slowed sales of smaller vehicles as well, prompting Toyota to consider postponing the start of production at the Mississippi plant, the Nikkei said.

Toyota officials were not immediately available for comment.

Toyota, the world's biggest automaker, shocked investors earlier this month when it cut its operating profit forecast by 63% to 600 billion yen (S$9.48 billion), a 13-year low, hit by a stronger yen, weak sales and expensive raw materials.

Toyota said it has set up an emergency committee to look at costs ranging from labour to R&D to improve short-term profitability, and delaying new factory launches was one of the options it said it was considering.

(Reporting by Sachi Izumi; Editing by Chris Gallagher)