Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday its global production in fiscal 2023 grew 9.2 percent from a year earlier to a record 9.97 million vehicles but fell short of its goal of 10.1 million, impacted by recent data-rigging scandals at its group firms.

Its overseas production in the year ended March rose 5.0 percent to a record 6.66 million vehicles, helped by robust demand in North America and Europe, the company said.

The automaker saw its domestic production increase 18.7 percent to 3.31 million vehicles for the year thanks to strong post-pandemic demand at home despite the scandals, it said.

Toyota temporarily stopped part of its domestic production after affiliate Toyota Industries Corp. said in January data had been rigged for engines including those supplied to Toyota.

The automaker was also negatively affected by another data-rigging scandal at small-car unit Daihatsu Motor Co., which said in December that it had rigged safety testing data for most of its models, Toyota said.

Toyota's global sales for the year rose 7.3 percent from a year earlier to a record 10.31 million units, surpassing 10 million for the first time on a fiscal year basis, helped by its solid performance in North America, Europe and Japan.

The record figure came as its overseas sales increased 7.0 percent to a record 8.78 million units as the automaker ramped up sales of the hybrid versions of popular models, such as the Corolla and the RAV4 in North America and Europe, it said.

Domestic sales rose 8.7 percent to 1.53 million vehicles, although the company noted that the scandals at its group firms negatively impacted the figure in the second half.

==Kyodo

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