Strong demand drives production increase of the Yaris hatchback

Toyota has announced it will start operating a third production shift at its European factory from June 2014 in order to meet high demand for its two products, the Toyota Yaris and the Toyota Yaris Hybrid. 

Koreatsu Aoki, President of Toyota Motor Manufacturing France (TMMF), cited that sales forecasts have led to the increase of production by around 15 percent for 2014 - for a total annual production volume of around 220,000 units.

The three-shift operation will require an increase in manpower by 500 production employees, which will bring total employment at TMMF in Valenciennes to more than 4,000. Until the third shift is in place, Toyota is planning to run production on Saturdays to meet the demand.