Toyota, the world's largest automaker, officially hit a new global output record in November with a total of 833,104 vehicles built that month. That's a 1.5% increase from November 2021. What makes this accomplishment all the more impressive is that the Japanese automaker managed to navigate its way through ongoing supply chain issues, namely semiconductor chips, and a pandemic resurgence in China. All told, Toyota's global sales increased by 2.9% in November, for a total of 796,484 units sold.

What's the secret to Toyota's success? Huge demand, in North America in particular.

Anyone shopping for a new Toyota right now, such as the extremely popular RAV4, has more than likely encountered some dealer markups and/or general competition with fellow buyers. Toyota's impressive numbers come following a November report when it exceeded production expectations for the third month in a row.

Last October, for example, Toyota initially predicted a 750,000-unit output. Instead, it produced 771,382 vehicles. The automaker still appears to be on track to build at least 9.2 million vehicles for the fiscal year ending in March 2023. Although that figure is lower than the 9.7 million-unit prediction made earlier this year, it's still significantly higher than last year's 8.6 million-unit total output.

Toyota's domestic output for last month decreased by 3.3% from the year prior, but overseas output increased by 3.8%. We should also point out that Toyota's subsidiaries, Daihatsu and Hino, helped contribute to Toyota Motor Corporation's total output of 982,552 units.

Looking ahead, Toyota makes it clear that "the situation remains difficult to predict due to semiconductor shortages and COVID-19. However, we will continue to carefully monitor the parts supply situation and minimize sudden decreases in production as much as possible while making every effort to deliver as many vehicles to our customers at the earliest date."

Toyota has weathered the global pandemic and resulting supply chain issues far better than rival automakers. One reason is that it stockpiled semiconductor chips following lessons learned from the 2011 tsunami that wreaked major havoc on its supply chain operations.

Last November, Toyota was forced to suspend North American production on some popular models, such as the RAV4 and 4Runner, due to supply-related issues. Fortunately, those disruptions lasted only a few days, and things quickly got back on track. Toyota's latest production milestone announcement is further proof it knows how to adapt to uncertain times.