Toyota denies it will boost output to 90% in June

Japanese carmaker Toyota on Wednesday denied reports that it plans to return in June to about 90 percent of its pre-quake domestic production. The reports had given a lift to Toyota's share price on the Nikkei stock index, with the car giant ending Wednesday up 2.15 percent at 3,315 yen. But spokesman Paul Nolasco told AFP: "We are making efforts to return to normal production as soon as possible but there is no change for now to Toyota's production plan announced earlier." The company said this month it expected to recover around 70 percent of normal levels by June. The Nikkei daily said Wednesday, however, that the carmaker was planning to boost production to about 12,000 units per day next month at its 17 plants in Japan, as parts procurement had been recovering more smoothly than expected. Before the quake disaster the firm had an estimated production of 13,000 in June and July, the paper said. Toyota also aims to bring forward its schedule to be back to normal vehicle output by around November or December, the Nikkei said. The March 11 earthquake and the resulting tsunami hammered production, shattered supply chains and crippled electricity-generating facilities, including a nuclear power plant at the centre of an ongoing atomic emergency. Amid power and parts shortages, Toyota had announced production disruptions domestically and in the United States, Europe, China and Australia because of the crisis, temporarily slowing output or shutting plants.