If all the 35,000 domestic executives and employees meet their goals, the Sanyo group's sales would be boosted by 16 billion yen (155 million dollars), said Kyodo News and the Sankei Shimbun newspaper.

Each executive is asked to buy some two million yen (19,000 dollars) worth Sanyo products, ranging from televisions to insurance, with lower-ranked officers and workers given various "targets", the reports said.

Each ordinary worker was asked to buy 200,000 yen worth, the Sankei said.

The workers can include purchases by friends and relatives in their buying amount, the reports said.

Sanyo officials could not be reached for comment.

The measure, which began last month, was mainly aimed at reducing losses due to damage to its chip-making plant during an earthquake in October.

The company last month downgraded its earnings forecast from a profit to a major loss for the year to March 2005 after it was forced to halt operations at its plant in quake-hit Niigata prefecture.

The company has also struggled to expand its earnings due to a lack of new semiconductor products, the Sankei said.

Sanyo estimated the quake cost it 87 billion yen, including 50.3 billion yen worth of physical damage to the factory.

Niigata was rocked on October 23 by a quake registering 6.8 on the Richter scale which killed 40 people and injured 2,857.

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