Toyota had been aiming for a high February production plan to meet strong demand.

Toyota's overseas output climbed 5.6 percent to 3.35 million vehicles through June, while production in Japan fell 18 percent to 1.73 million.

Production lines will be switched back on at its 14 factories across the country, Toyota said.

To crack the code of building low-cost electric vehicles, Japan's automakers intend to leverage their skills at tried-and-true lean manufacturing and kaizen.

Even as it has faced high demand for batteries from Tesla, Panasonic has been slower to build scale compared with rival suppliers LG Energy Solution of South Korea and China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.

Newly appointed COO Sinead Kaiya is charged with making growth and sustainability a reality at Toyota Motor's autonomous-driving technology unit.

Toyota is reviewing its production plans as mounting global disruptions hinder its attempts to raise output.

The alliance says the partners will jointly launch 35 new EVs over the next five years. And they will pursue a common strategy to secure global battery production capacity of 220 gigawatt-hours by 2030.

The $1.3 billion plant will eventually make batteries for as many as 1.2 million hybrid, plug-in hybrid and BEVs per year, the automaker said.

Toyota's positive assessment comes after the U.S. economy shrank for a second-straight quarter and as U.S. companies initiate such belt-tightening measures as precautionary job cuts.