Toyota Motor said Monday it posted record global production and sales figures in the April-September period, as output picked up on the back of an easing chip shortage.
Toyota built 5.06 million vehicles worldwide in the fiscal first half, up 12.8% from the same period a year earlier, reaching record levels of production for the first time in four years.
The improved availability of chips helped the world's largest carmaker by volume sell an all-time high 5.17 million vehicles at home and abroad in the six months that ended in September, up 9.1% from a year earlier.
It is the first time the automaker saw its production and sales both top the 5 million mark in a fiscal first half, as it aims to manufacture and sell more than 10 million vehicles for the full year ending in March.
Its output was boosted by increased production in North America and Japan, while in China it dropped 7.3% as sales struggled in the country amid intensifying competition with domestic rivals.
Toyota's sales grew on robust demand in Japan as well as overseas including North America and Europe. Its domestic sales soared 33.8% to 790,168 vehicles and overseas sales climbed 5.5% to 4.38 million units.
Toyota's electric vehicle sales jumped sevenfold to 58,984 units globally for the period after it launched new models to broaden its emissions-free lineup.
The automaker sold 1.83 million electric, hybrid and other types of battery-driven vehicles, up 38.1%.
Toyota's global production and sales for September were also a record high. Monthly output grew 1.5% from a year earlier to 900,919 units while the sales increased 11.6% to 921,308 cars.