LOS ANGELES (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. expects to post an increase in its U.S. vehicle deliveries in May from a year earlier, aided by an improvement in sales of the Prius hybrid line.
Prius sales through April were 12 percent below the company's year-earlier volume and not on pace for a full-year target of 250,000 units.
Sales of Prius hatchbacks, v wagons, c subcompacts and a plug-in version will top May 2012's 21,477, said Carly Schaffner, a company spokeswoman.
She declined to provide a specific figure for either Prius or total company sales in May.
Toyota in April was the only one of the six largest automakers ranked by U.S. sales to report a drop, with deliveries down 1.1 percent from a year earlier on declines for Camry sedans and Prius.
The company has said lower U.S. fuel prices this year have hurt Prius demand, which typically tracks gasoline cost.
Bill Fay, Toyota's group vice president for U.S. sales, said in an April interview the carmaker would begin a new Prius television ad campaign in June to aid demand.
The program will run for six weeks, starting in mid-June, Schaffner said.
Automakers are scheduled to report May sales on Monday.
