Toyota Aims at Selling 9.7M Vehicles This Year

Toyota aims at selling 9.7 million vehicles by the end of this year, and 9.91 million in 2013.

Toyota, which saw its sales hit by a production disruption caused by natural disasters which hit Japan and Thailand in 2011, proved it is able to quickly get back on its feet and reach a solid turnaround. The automaker has also the strength to deal with numerous lawsuits related to the massive recalls which began in 2009 over the unintended acceleration issue.

Wednesday, December 26th, Toyota agreed to pay more than $1 billion to end hundreds of lawsuits from owners who claim that the value of their vehicles dropped after the recalls started. If the settlement gets the approval of a US district judge, Toyota will have to offer cash payments to owners who turned in their leased cars or sold them between September 2009 and December 2010.

The maker of the Prius hybrid, Lexus luxury models and Camry sedan recalled more than 14 million vehicles between 2009 and 2010 over several issues, including sticky gas pedals, faulty floor mats and braking problems. Before these safety issues and the financial crisis which hit auto sales in 2008, Toyota was aiming at reaching sales of 10 million vehicles.