In its 2Q earnings call , Toyota announced that it is increasing monthly production of the Prius from approximately 10,000 to 15,000 to meet global demand. The production boost will begin in the first half of 2005. Toyota will continue to build the Prius only in Japan.

“When the all-new second-generation Prius was launched in mid-October of last year, we had an annual sales plan of about 36,000 units,” said Don Esmond, Toyota Division senior vice president and general manager. “Two months later, in December 2003, we announced a 31-percent increase in our sales plan to 47,000 units annually, and promised that if we needed more, we would build more. Clearly, the extraordinary response to Prius took us by surprise. With demand far-outstripping supply, customers have been forced to wait many months for delivery. Our announcement to increase production by fifty percent, should prove to our dealers and our customers that we are good on our word.”

Toyota posted a 29% jump in net income to $2.6 billion for its first quarter (ending June 30) through cost-cutting and rising sales of the Camry and Prius.

Toyota’s profit was twice that of General Motors Corp., the world’s largest carmaker by sales, and its revenue of $40 billion closed to within $9 billion of GM and $3 billion of Ford Motor Co.

“It’s really difficult to find a fault with Toyota,” said Norihito Kanai, an analyst at Meiji Dresdner Asset Management Co., which manages the equivalent of $2.5 billion in stocks including Toyota, in Tokyo. “It is a well balanced company and is on its way to become the biggest automaker in the world.” Bloomberg.