Toyota Motor Corp. plans to raise its global sales target for this year to 8.8 million units from almost 8.6 million, reflecting brisk sales in emerging economies, sources said Tuesday.
The leading automaker also plans to revise upward its global production target for the year, which is currently set at 8.65 million vehicles, the sources said.
It will seek to beef up group global sales, which include those of Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors Ltd., to around 10 million vehicles from the current 9.58 million, according to the sources.
Its original plan for 2012 was to sell 8.48 million units, up from the record sales of 8.43 million achieved in 2007. It revised the plan upward by 100,000 units in January due to a rise in domestic sales under the government's subsidy program for environmentally friendly vehicles.
The plan to raise the target again came as Toyota's sales in its major markets, such as Southeast Asia and North America, have also continued to be strong.
But the outlook for the second half is uncertain, as the subsidy is expected to end as early as this month and subsequently lead to a decline in domestic sales, while the deterioration in the European market amid the region's sovereign debt crisis is feared to spill over to North America, China and elsewhere.
Brazil ethanol hybrid
KyodoToyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it will launch the world's first hybrid vehicle that uses ethanol in Brazil later this year.
The Prius hybrid, which gets 32.6 km per liter, will be manufactured in Japan and exported to Brazil, according to the automaker.