TOYOTA CITY, Japan -

The production rebound by Toyota Motor Corp. gained even more steam last month as the company reported year-over-year vehicle assembly improvement in Japan and globally for the first time in a year.

The company revealed Wednesday that it produced 252,374 units in Japan during August, an 11.9-percent improvement from the same month a year earlier.

Globally, the automaker assembled 626,817 units last month, a 10.6-percent gain from August of last year.

From Jan. 1 through Aug. 31, Toyota acknowledged its Japanese production is off by 29.6 percent year-over-year, assembling just 1,572,714 units. Looking on a global scale, the OEM’s production level during that span is down 17.4 percent to 4,202,851 units.

Toyota and other Asian brands are continuing to bring their production levels back to normal following the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan back in March.

Toyota’s production rebound on its home soil is leaving at least one industry analyst upbeat about how the automaker can make enough vehicles to meet worldwide demand.

“The bottleneck disruptions in the parts supply seem to be ending quicker than expected,” Satoru Takada, an analyst at TIW in Tokyo told Bloomberg.

“Supply of parts, including microcontrollers, have normalized, helping Toyota’s production return to normal,” Takada added.

Earlier this month, one of Toyota’s high-level managers confirmed the OEM’s North American production returned to 100 percent.

Steve St. Angelo indicated the automaker’s recovery is well ahead of initial expectations. The Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing executive vice president made the assessment Sept. 13 when appearing at the Toyota USA Automobile Museum to address the Los Angeles Motor Press Guild.

Shortly after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Toyota forecasted a return to normal production levels by November or December.

In June, Toyota highlighted eight of the company’s 12 North American built models returned to 100 percent, including Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Matrix, Highlander, Sienna, Sequoia and Venza.

St. Angelo’s proclamation affirmed 100 percent production of the remaining four vehicles, including Tacoma, Tundra, RAV 4 and Lexus RX 350.

Together, those 12 models account for nearly 70 percent of Toyota’s U.S. sales.

With Japan-based production also restored to normal levels, Toyota insisted it will focus on replenishing dealer inventories through overtime and Saturday shifts at certain plants. The company estimated production levels in the fourth quarter will be approximately 15 percent higher than forecasted prior to the earthquake and tsunami.

“The recovery is a testament to the dedication and commitment of our North American team members, suppliers and business partners,” St. Angelo said

“All of us at Toyota greatly appreciate the patience and support of our customers and dealers, many of whom have made generous donations in support of the relief efforts in Japan," he continued.

“Looking ahead, we’re excited about our extensive product launch schedule over the coming months, including the all-new 2012 Camry and Camry Hybrid,” St. Angelo went on to say. “I have no doubt that our team continues to be focused on building the highest quality vehicles for our customers.”

Toyota spokeswoman Amiko Tomita also told Bloomberg Wednesday the company began recruiting temporary workers in July and plans to add as many as 4,000 in Japan.

Tomita added Toyota’s Japanese plants are scheduled to operate for an additional 10 days on weekends to make up for lost production in the first half of the year.

The Bloomberg report can be found here.