Toyota's redesigned Prius goes into production this month with the automaker saying the petrol-hybrid model line had boosted Japanese car production by around 14% year on year.
"This Prius is contributing to an increase in overall average daily domestic production to around 14,000 cars, for the first time in a while," Toyota president Akio Toyoda told Reuters at a plant near the company's Toyota City headquarters in central Japan.
Go deeper with GlobalData
That was up from average daily production of 12,300 cars in December 2014, when production had eased ahead of new model launches at the start of this year, a Toyota spokesman told the news agency.
Toyota launched its fourth-generation Prius in Japan last week and will introduce it in other regions in coming months.
The automaker has said it had received domestic Japanese market orders for around 60,000 of the new models so far. It is targeting average global annual sales of 300,000-350,000, the lower end of the initial annual sales target of 300,000-400,000 for the previous model.
The spokesman said the automaker's domestic monthly output largely is in the range of around 11,000-14,000.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataDaily production at Toyota's domestic plants had been creeping up each year, averaging 13,700 in September compared with 13,500 a year ago, according to the company's latest available data, cited by Reuters.
Output climbed to 14,800 in March 2014 due to a surge in demand ahead of a rise in Japanese consumption tax the following month.
