Toyota Motor Corporation Production: Maker Of Camry, Corolla On Track To Manufacture 10 Million Vehicles In 2013, A First For Any Automaker

Toyota Motor Corporation (TYO:7203) is on track to produce more than 10 million vehicles in 2013, a first for any automaker.

The world’s largest passenger car and light truck manufacturer released its global sales and production figures on Wednesday. The maker of the Camry sedan, the world’s top-selling car, is benefitting from robust domestic demand ahead of a consumption tax hike in April. A booming U.S. auto market is also helping to fuel manufacturing demand.

Including Toyota subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor Co., which manufactures low-cost vehicles primarily for Asian emerging markets, and Hino Motors, which makes buses and trucks, Toyota Motor has manufactured almost 9.34 million vehicles between January and November, including 1.12 million units produced by the two subsidiaries, a 0.9 percent increase from the same period last year.

The company reported global production of 889,242 vehicles in November, a 13.3 percent increase from the same month last year, so it’s a safe bet Toyota will top 10 million total units for the year. If December only turns out to be as good as last year, the company would be shy a few thousand units, but November was the third consecutive month of double-digit production increases form last year, so it’s unlikely December would not show some kind of increase. Toyota sold nearly 9.1 million units in the first 11 months of the year.

The automaker said in August it expected to make 10.12 million vehicles and sell 9.96 million units worldwide this year. In the U.S. (the world’s second-largest auto market after China), the Camry is the top-selling passenger car, in third place after the Ford F-Series and Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks. The redesigned Toyota Corolla, introduced earlier this year, is the seventh-most popular vehicle in the U.S. and the fifth-most popular sedan, after the Honda Accord, Honda Civic and Nissan Altima.

All Japanese automakers have benefited from the U.S. auto market rebound, which could see annual auto sales reaching 15.6 million, or 8 percent higher than last year. Most analysts expect next year’s sales to top 16 million for the first time since 2007, prior to the longest U.S. economic recession since the Great Depression that sent the auto market crashing. The top eight Japanese automakers saw manufacturing jump 10.5 percent in November, to 800,567 units.