TOKYO -- Toyota lost $7.7 billion in the January-March quarter - a bigger loss than General Motors reported - resulting in its worst fiscal year since the Japanese automaker was founded in 1937, according to The Associated Press.

Toyota also warned Friday that because of the global auto slump its net loss would deepen in the year through March 2010 to $5.55 billion from $4.4 billion in the just-ended fiscal year.

President Katsuaki Watanabe said the devastating results were caused by "the significant deterioration in vehicle sales particularly in the U.S. and Europe," the strong yen and the rising cost of raw materials.