Honda Motor Co. has raised output at North American plants by the fastest pace of any carmaker in the region this year as the company pushes to reclaim U.S. market share lost to competitors and natural disasters in 2011.

Honda plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico built 748,217 cars and light trucks in the year's first five months, a record for the period and 67 percent more than a year earlier, according to the company.

Toyota Motor Corp. followed with a 64 percent North American increase to 787,777 vehicles.

"We've been doing everything we can to make up for lost time," Tom Lake, Honda's head of North American purchasing, said in ain interview last month in Raymond, Ohio.

Honda and Toyota are targeting gains of 10 percent or more in U.S. sales this year after losing ground to South Korean rivals Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. Honda, Toyota and Nissan Motor Co. are also racing to limit exposure to a sustained rise in the yen against the dollar by shifting output and parts purchases from Japan.

The yen is currently traded around 80 to the dollar, compared with 91.7 two years ago and 122.7 five years ago.

"Long before the yen became as strong as it is today we'd identified plans for localizing certain specialized parts or materials we're buying from Japan," Lake said.

"The shift in the exchange rate increased the urgency in getting that done."

Nissan, tapping alternative supply sources through its alliance with Renault SA, was able to rebound faster from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami and lost less production in North America from parts supply issues.

Nissan upped output at its U.S. and Mexican plants by 23 percent this year to 562,971, company spokesman David Reuter said.

The high exchange rate means Japan's automakers are also limiting exports, Alec Gutierrez, Kelley Blue Book's auto market analyst, said Wednesday.

"Although exports will be managed to limit losses, Japanese manufacturers will continue to do whatever is necessary to maintain share," he said.

Car and light truck output in North America by all manufacturers rose 22 percent through May to 6.57 million vehicles from 5.38 million a year earlier, trade magazine Automotive News said.

Among the region's largest automakers, General Motors Co.'s output is up 5.4 percent to 1.41 million through May; Ford Motor Co.'s grew 4.4 percent to 1.15 million; and Chrysler Group LLC had a 23 percent increase to 1.02 million, according to company statements.

Japan's three largest automakers are also producing vehicles in North America at a rate indicating each will set records this year.

Sustaining the current pace means Honda would produce more than 1.7 million Honda and Acura brand autos in the region this year, topping its best ever 1.43 million in 2007.

Honda's U.S. market share slid to 9 percent last year from 10.6 percent in 2010, according to researcher Autodata Corp. Honda's share is 9.6 percent this year through May, down from 9.9 percent a year earlier. Honda's light-vehicle sales rose 10 percent during the first five months, trailing the industrywide 13 percent gain.

Toyota may produce more than 1.89 million, surpassing its previous record of 1.67 million in 2007.

Nissan made 1.18 million in the U.S. and Mexico last year, its highest volume to date, and may make as many as 1.35 million at the current rate.