Toyota says no change to plan to produce 9.7 million vehicles globally this year

Toyota Motor Corp said on Wednesday it would hold to its plan to produce 9.7 million vehicles globally this fiscal year, even as it announced another stoppage related to the spread of COVID-19.

The Japanese automaker is seeking to boost production in earnest after COVID lockdowns in China and a global chip shortage forced it to repeatedly scale back output in the April-June quarter.

The company said it will suspend production on three lines at its Motomachi plant in central Japan for some days in September. That follows suspensions at its Tsutsumi plant announced on Monday and Tuesday this week.

Toyota says it expects to produce about 850,000 vehicles globally in September and would seek to raise production through November, depending on supplies of parts and personnel.