Toyota says production won't return to normal until November 04/25/2011
Toyota and its luxury Lexus brand may be in deeper trouble than initially thought, as the company has released a statement that says vehicle production will not be back to normal levels until November or December at the earliest.
The entire auto industry has suffered in the wake of the Japanese earthquake, as the country was home to many parts suppliers who now have to rebuild. Once the parts are procured, shipping them is still a hassle as Japan's transportation system has yet to fully recover.
Toyota says that its Japanese plants are currently at 50 percent of its usual production, and North American plants are down to 30 percent. While those numbers will rise over the coming months, the company does not believe that all plants will be back to normal until late 2011.
"To all the customers who made the decision to buy a vehicle made by us, I sincerely apologize for the enormous delay in delivery," Akio Toyoda, the company president, said in the statement. "Our entire company is committed to solving the problems before us so that we can achieve production recovery even one day sooner."
Time will tell if the production delays lead to shortages of available vehicles from Toyota and other companies, but most analysts are predicting some shortfalls for the company.