Toyota’s global sales in March rose to a record, as the automaker’s ability to keep producing vehicles amid a global shortage of chips puts the company in prime position to capitalize on a resurgence in demand for cars.
Toyota’s global sales in March rose 44 percent to 982,912 units, a record for a single month, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
The automaker produced 843,393 units last month, up 32 percent from a year earlier, when the pandemic was forcing global automakers to suspend production.
Toyota’s exhaustive monitoring of its supply chain and stockpiling of chips have allowed it to keep producing cars to meet rising demand.
The bright sales figures come as consumers, who have been saving money during lockdown and are emboldened by signs that the COVID-19 crisis may be waning, are now buying cars.
Sales were particularly strong in China and North America, a Toyota spokeswoman said.
While appetite for cars recovers in many regions of the world, some automakers are proving unable to fully capitalize on that demand due to a lingering global shortage of semiconductors used in vehicles.
Chip shortages knocked about 1.3 million units off global car output in the first three months of the year, according to IHS Markit.
Rival Nissan also reported strong March sales, up 51 percent, but down significantly from two years prior.