Toyota Motor Corp. will expand domestic production for the April-September first half of fiscal 2013 by around 10 percent from initial plans, sources said Saturday.
They cited strong overseas demand amid the yen's depreciation as well as steady sales at home as reasons for the output boost.
Toyota has already revised upward its domestic daily production for April and May by about 10 percent from the original projection to 13,000 units, and is likely to keep output at that level over the next four months, the sources said.
Production during the January-September period is expected to total 2.5 million units, up 200,000 units from earlier forecasts. In calendar 2013, output is likely to surpass the envisaged 3.1 million units but will fall short of the 3.49 million units posted the previous year, when state subsidies for purchases of eco-friendly vehicles jacked up demand, the sources said.
Sales of Toyota's compact hybrid models, such as the Aqua, and the Crown luxury sedan are expected to remain high this year, while sports utility vehicles like the RAV4 are likely to draw brisk demand in the North American market.