Toyota to make record 800,000 vehicles in January as it ramps up production

Toyota Motor Company on Wednesday said that it plans to build record 800,000 vehicles globally in January next year as it looks to ramp up production to make up for the loss of output due to parts shortages. The company aims to reach its production forecast target of the 9 million units for the year to March 31.

Toyota had previously set an annual production target of 9.3 million vehicles by March 2022. However, due to the chip crisis, the automaker later reduced the target to nine million vehicles.

The production plan for January represents an increase of 60,000 vehicles from a year earlier. Toyota, the world's largest automaker by volume, has been significantly affected by the ongoing shortage of parts due to coronavirus pandemic, hitting production at its factories in Malaysia and Vietnam.

Earlier this week, Toyota announced that due to parts shortages, it is being forced to halt some manufacturing in Japan in December, which will result in a loss of production of 14,000 cars for the month. The models that will be affected by this production halt will include Lexus cars as well as Land Cruiser. This comes as additional worry for the automaker as Land Cruiser's supply is already struggling to keep up with demand.

The microchip crisis has emerged as a major disruption in the auto parts market. Since last year, the crisis has been hitting the auto manufacturers. The global auto industry is estimating a production loss of millions of vehicles in this calendar year due to the supply chain disruptions.

In a separate announcement this week, Toyota revealed that it plans to roll out 30 battery EV models by 2030, globally offering a full lineup of battery EVs in the passenger and commercial segments. It will start with the recently introduced electric vehicle bZ4X which is set for a launch next year. It will then expand its bZ lineup series.

(with inputs from Reuters)