Toyota Outlines Timeline for Restoring Normal Production
NEW YORK, NY, April 22, 2011 -- After an in-depth analysis
of its suppliers affected by the earthquake and tsunami, Toyota Motor
Corporation (TMC) announced today that global production will begin to
ramp up as soon as July in Japan and August in North America, with all
models back to normal production by November or December 2011.
The one-month difference in the start date is due to the time required to ship parts from Japan to overseas plants.
"To all the customers who made the decision to buy a vehicle made
by us, I sincerely apologize for the enormous delay in delivery," said
TMC President Akio Toyoda at a press conference in Japan today
announcing the normalization timeline
Currently, manufacturing plants in Japan are working at 50 percent
of capacity due to parts availability, while those in North America are
operating at 30 percent of capacity because of the parts supply
situation.
The company said it plans to continue procuring parts from the same
suppliers, but it will consider substitute parts from other
suppliers. TMC said there are approximately 150 parts affecting
new-vehicle production, mainly electronic, rubber and paint-related. However, replacement parts for sales service and repair are available.
TMC also said it is continuing to do all it can to minimize the
impact on employment. In North America, it was announced earlier this
week that there are no plans for layoffs at manufacturing plants.
"Our entire company is committed to solving the problems before
us," Toyoda said, "so that we can achieve production recovery even one
day sooner."
Contact(s):
Media Contacts:
Javier Moreno (212) 715-7469
Mike Goss (859) 746-6676
Mike Michels (310) 200-4968
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. Media Line (310) 468-5297
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