Toyota Motor Corp. said its global vehicle sales may rise 20 percent next year as Asia's biggest carmaker recovers from production disruptions caused by the March earthquake and Thailand's record flooding.
The maker of Prius hybrid cars may sell 8.48 million vehicles worldwide next year, compared with an estimated 7.05 million in 2011, it said in a statement Thursday. The forecast excludes Toyota's Hino Motors Ltd. and Daihatsu Motor Co. units.
Toyota aims to recover market share lost this year when the natural disasters disrupted its supply chain, causing component shortages that shuttered factories worldwide, leaving car dealers short of inventory. Declining sales and gains in the yen prompted the carmaker to cut its profit forecast by more than half for the fiscal year ending in March.