Toyota is targeting a new production record of 10.6 million vehicles this year as it aims to reduce wait times for its most popular models.
Japanese car giant Toyota It is targeting a record total production of 10.6 million vehicles in 2023 as it struggles to recover from slowdowns in production and semiconductor shortages during the global pandemic in the past two years.
The latest production forecast is the best news for Toyota buyers since before the pandemic, as wait times in Australia have ballooned to more than 18 months for the company’s most popular models, including the LandCruiser and RAV4 Hybrid.
The target is a sharp increase in the probable result from 2022, as Toyota lowered its latest forecast from 9.7 to 9.2 million vehicles for the Japanese financial close in March 2023.
Toyota produced 8.6 million vehicles in the previous financial year.
Improving component supply chains have contributed to the higher forecast, according to Toyota.
However, there are still risks and Toyota has warned that it might miss its target by as much as 10 per cent if the semiconductor shortage continues until 2023.
Even so, a 10 percent drop from the target would leave Toyota with total production of about 9.54 million vehicles.
“At this point, forecasts are still hard to make,” Kazunari Kumakura, Toyota’s head of purchasing, said in a statement.
“We have engaged in repeated discussions about creating achievable production plans with minimal fluctuations,” Toyota said.
“Our focus for our 2023 production plan is . . . deliver as many vehicles as possible to our customers at the earliest date.”
There has been no comment from Toyota Australia on the new production target, which Japan describes as a “baseline” to help suppliers with a ceiling for their own production planning.
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