The aftershocks from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami continue to affect Toyota Motor Corporation as the automaker said on Friday that it will take several months before normal production of all its models resume to normal. According to the company announcement, global production will begin to ramp up in July in Japan and August in North America, with all models back to normal production in November or December 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,” said CEO Akio Toyoda at a press conference in Japan. “By telling dealers the timing of the recovery, they can have a better conversation with their customers. Dealers right now cannot talk to their customers about delivery timing. They can’t talk about specifics. Sales people are having a difficult time,” Toyoda added.
At the moment, Toyota plants in Japan are working at 50 percent of capacity due to the lack of parts, while North American units are operating at 30 percent of capacity because of parts supply problems.
The company said it will continue procuring parts from the same suppliers, but is considering substitute parts from other suppliers. Around 150 parts are affecting new-vehicle production, mostly electronic, rubber and paint-related components. Toyota stressed the fact that it continues to do all it can to minimize the impact on employment, with the company announcing that there are no plans for layoffs at manufacturing plants in North America, although plants there now operate three days a week at only half the normal pace.
The company also announced it will improve procurement to protect itself from future supply shocks by moving more parts production overseas, especially lower tier suppliers.
“We have to consider being able to procure the entire part locally. We would like to ask our suppliers to consider setting up shop overseas,” said Shinichi Sasaki, executive vice president in charge of purchasing.
Source: Toyota & Autonews
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