Toyota Motor Corp, the world's biggest maker of cars that run on gasoline-electric engines, said it will increase production of its Prius model by 50 percent, to cut the six-month waiting period for US customers.
The world's second-largest carmaker will expand the Prius' monthly output to 15,000 units during the first half of next year from 10,000 vehicles now, senior managing director Takeshi Su-zuki said at a press conference in Tokyo.
The Prius has been one of the fastest-selling passenger cars in the US since it went on sale in 1997, staying on US dealership lots for less time than any other model this year, according to J.D. Power & Associates.
Toyota Santa Monica, one of the biggest US Prius sellers, tells customers to wait as long as eight months for the car, which has a US$25,000 list price.
Suzuki declined to say which of Toyota's plants will be used for the additional production.
US sales of the Prius more than doubled this year through June 30 to 21,783 units, from 9,865 a year ago. Toyota has said it expects to sell about 50,000 in the US this calendar year.
The car's scarcity has led some owners to resell their vehicles for a substantial profit.
The asking price for a new Prius on EBay Inc's Internet auction site was US$33,999.77 on Monday, or about US$9,000 more than the list price.
Toyota first introduced the Prius in Japan in 1997 and in the US in 2000. Honda Motor Co. is only other automaker selling hybrids to US consumers, while Ford Motor Co plans to introduce its hybrid Escape sport-utility vehicle this year.
Toyota reported yesterday a nearly 29 percent surge in profit for the three months ended June 30 on strong sales in North America and Europe, prompting Japan's top automaker to lift its vehicle sales forecast for the full fiscal year.
The company's net group profit for the second quarter totaled ?286.6 billion (US$2.6 billion), up from ?222.5 billion the same period a year ago. Sales jumped 10 percent to ?4.51 trillion from ?4.09 trillion.
"Our ongoing efforts to introduce products that meet the needs of our customers as well as the strengthening of our production and sales organization led to increased profits in all regions," Toyota executive vice president Ryuji Araki said.
Toyota raised its global vehicle sales target for the fiscal year ending March 31 next year, to 7.2 million vehicles, an increase of 180,000 vehicles from an earlier forecast in May.
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