Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday it posted record global production and sales figures for a fiscal half 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 percent from the same period a year earlier, reaching record production levels 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 percent from a year earlier.
It is the first time the Japanese 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 percent as sales struggled in the country amid intensifying competition from 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 percent to 790,168 vehicles and overseas sales climbed 5.5 percent 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 percent.
Toyota's global production and sales for September were also a record high. Monthly output grew 1.5 percent from a year earlier to 900,919 units while the sales increased 11.6 percent to 921,308 cars.
Global sales by Japan's eight major automakers, including Toyota, in the April-September period rose 7.8 percent on year to 12.30 million units, with seven of the companies recording higher sales.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp., which recently announced its exit from the Chinese market, reported declined sales in the period due to weaker sales in the Asian country amid heightened market pressures.
Honda Motor Co. saw its global sales rise 7.5 percent to 1.97 million units, boosted by robust sales in the United States. Sales at Nissan Motor Co. grew 5.5 percent to 1.65 million cars.
Worldwide production at the eight companies rose 7.4 percent to 12.64 million vehicles.
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