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ST GALLEN, Switzerland, May 23 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp President Fujio Cho said on Friday that its market share in Europe was "unsatisfactory" at 4.4 percent or around 756,000 vehicles sold last year.
"We must try harder," he told the annual St Gallen management symposium.
Toyota, the world's third-largest car maker, has indicated it plans to meet its target of selling 800,000 vehicles this financial year in Europe, ahead of its original target of 2005.
After years of struggling in Europe, the world's biggest car maker in terms of market capitalisation said on Tuesday it was supporting its recent success in Europe by expanding production capacity at plants in the UK and France.
Despite falling sales for European carmakers and overcapacity of around 30 percent in the region, Toyota has enjoyed higher sales thanks to fresh models designed to meet local tastes.
The company plans to raise output capacity by 20 percent in the UK, where it makes its Corolla and Avensis, to 270,000 vehicles and create 1,000 jobs. In France, where it builds its Yaris model, Toyota eventually plans to raise capacity to 240,000 from 184,000.
Toyota reported a 21 percent rise in group operating profit to 1.36 trillion yen in its financial year to end-March, helped by cost cutting, strong U.S. sales and a resurgent euro.