Toyota's vehicle production up by 8.8% in January, still short of plan

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp boosted global vehicle production by 9% in January, it said on Monday, marking its first increase in three months but still coming short of its plan due to COVID-19-related parts shortages.

Toyota, the world's largest automaker by volume, said it produced 689,090 vehicles globally in January, an 8.8% increase from the same month last year. That was just short of the 700,000 vehicles it previously said it expected to produce for the month.

That does not include production from its Daihatsu Motor Co and Hino Motors Ltd units.

Domestic production rose sharply, increasing by 30% to 211,572 vehicles, it said. Last year's numbers were hit hard by the chip shortage and COVID-19-related lockdowns.

Global sales slipped 5.6% to 709,870 vehicles, it said, reflecting the continued impact of the chip shortage.

(Reporting by David Dolan; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)