Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest automaker, said Wednesday it plans to raise its global production of vehicles, including the firm's high end Lexus models, to a record 8.9 million units in 2012.

According to company officials at the Nagoya-based firm, the auto giant's targets are to produce 3.5 million vehicles domestically and 5.5 million vehicles abroad -- in a sign the supply chain disruptions caused by the March 11 disasters that had previously hampered Toyota have improved significantly.

Toyota factories in Japan were shuttered for two weeks after the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami devastated the northeast of Japan in March, but by April the automaker had re- started production at all of its domestic factories, albeit at a reduced output.

Officials at Japan's leading automaker said in the year ending next March, Toyota expects to produce 7.72 million units, up from a previous forecast of 7.39 million, but for the whole of 2012 production will exceed the firm's previous record of 8.53 million units produced in 2007, and could reach 10 million units if production of its smaller affiliates are included.

Toyota plans to expand its market share in Japan on environmentally-conscious vehicles by releasing a new, smaller version of its ubiquitous, flagship Prius hybrid model and following sales in China climbing 30 percent in July, bouncing back from a from a drop of more than 50 percent in the previous three months, Toyota said it plans to build more factories in China as well as Brazil.

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