Toyota to slow North America production
Toyota announced March 24, 2011, it will slow vehicle production in North American because of a shortage of parts. Credit: Getty Images, 2006
TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp. said it will soon resume production of the Prius and two other hybrid models, but it expects to halt production at some of its factories in North America because of shortages of parts from Japan.
Meanwhile rival Honda Motor Co. has extended its Japan auto shutdown until early April in the aftermath of the 9.0 quake and tsunami that has devastated parts of Honshu island in the north, killing thousands.
In a statement released in Manhattan, Toyota said it was unclear which North American facilities will be affected or how long the suspension might last. It gave no indication how many employees might be affected.
The company said the impact should be limited because a majority of parts used by its North American factories came from suppliers there. It said the facilities are still receiving parts from Japan that were sent before the quake.
"Today, we communicated to team members, associates and dealers here that some production interruptions in North America are likely," the Toyota statement said. "It's too early to predict location or duration."
Toyota made about 8.5 million vehicles in 2010, including about 4 million in Japan. About half the vehicles made in Japan were exported. But nearly 70 percent of Toyotas sold in the United States are made in its 13 plants in North America.
Toyota, the world's No. 1 automaker, plans to restart production of the Prius and two Lexus hybrids -- the HS 250h and CT 200h. The Prius is made at the Tsutsumi factory in western Japan, while the Lexus models are produced in the southern island of Kyushu.
As for the company's nine other factories in Japan, Toyota has only said shutdowns will last at least until Saturday. It will have lost production of about 140,000 vehicles by then.
Separately, rival Honda Motor Co. said Thursday that the suspension of car production at its Saitama and Suzuka factories will be extended to April 3. It had previously said production was halted until Sunday.
It is restarting production of motorcycles at its Kumamoto factory on Monday.
Japanese automakers suspended production after the March 11 earthquake due to damage to suppliers' factories in northeastern Japan and power shortages.
