Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) — Toyota Motor Corp., Japan’s biggest carmaker, will probably raise the production target for its new compact version of the Prius hybrid after initial orders exceeded the company’s expectations, the Nikkei reported.
Toyota may raise its 2012 production target for the Aqua — known as the in the U.S. — by 30 percent to 320,000 units, the Nikkei newspaper reported today, without citing anyone. The company hasn’t revised its official targets, spokeswoman Amiko Tomita said.
Those figures indicate global sales of the model would exceed the total number of cars bearing the Prius name that Toyota projects to sell in the U.S. this year. Jim Lentz, head of sales in the U.S., Toyota’s biggest market, said in Detroit this month that Prius sales in the country would climb more than 60 percent to a record and exceed 220,000 vehicles, fueled by the new smaller version of the hybrid hatchback.
In Japan, Toyota is counting on government incentives for purchases of fuel-efficient cars to spur demand and help the company rebound from last year’s sales decline. Toyota will introduce a plug-in version of the Prius, the world’s best- selling hybrid car, on Jan. 31.
Orders in the first month of sales for its smallest Prius, which went on sale in Japan Dec. 26, reached 110,000 units, the Nikkei said.
Toyota rose 2.8 percent to 2,870 yen as of 11:20 a.m. in Tokyo. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.9 percent
By Anna Mukai and Steven McPherson
