Toyota wait times expected to fall as it aims for record production in 2023

Japanese car giant Toyota is aiming for a record production total of 10.6 million vehicles in 2023 as it battles to recover from the production slowdowns and semiconductor shortages during the global pandemic over the past two years.

The latest production forecast is the best news for Toyota buyers since before the pandemic, as waiting times in Australia have blown out to more than 18 months for the company's most popular models, including the LandCruiser and RAV4 Hybrid.

The target is a sharp increase from the likely outcome from 2022, as Toyota lowered its latest forecast from 9.7 to 9.2 million vehicles for the Japanese financial ending in March 2023.

Toyota produced 8.6 million vehicles in the previous financial year.

Improving supply chains for components have contributed to the higher forecast, according to Toyota.

However, there are still risks and Toyota has warned it could fall short of its target by as much as 10 per cent if semiconductor shortages continue through 2023.

Even so, a 10 per cent drop from the target it would still leave Toyota with a production total of around 9.54 million vehicles.

“At this point forecasts are still difficult to make,” said Kazunari Kumakura, Toyota’s head of purchasing, in a statement.

“We have engaged in repeated discussions on created achieving achievable production plans with minimal fluctuation,” Toyota said.

“Our approach to our 2023 production plan is to . . . deliver as many vehicles as possible to our customers at the earliest date.”

There has been no comment from Toyota Australia on the new production target, which is described by Japan as a 'baseline' to help suppliers with a ceiling for their own production planning.