Toyota Motor says it has shortened the average maximum daily working hours at some of its plants by 30 minutes. This follows a series of incidents involving fraudulent safety tests on vehicles.

The automaker says the move aims to ease the stress on workers as production surged, and return focus to product quality.

Toyota says production line demands have increased in recent months as semiconductor shortages eased, increasing workloads.

It hopes the shortening of operating hours will help ease pressure on its workforce and create some time for training and development.

Toyota has faced criticism in recent weeks amid a series of vehicle testing irregularities at its group companies.

Chairman Toyoda Akio on Tuesday apologized to customers for the series of testing failures at group companies Hino Motors, Daihatsu and Toyota Industries.