(April 22, 2011) NEW YORK — Toyota said today it would be November or December before production on all models in North America returns to normal.

After an in-depth analysis of its suppliers affected by the earthquake and tsunami, Toyota announced today that global production will begin to ramp up as soon as July in Japan and August in North America.
 
The one-month difference in the start date is due to the time required to ship parts from Japan to overseas plants, Toyota said.
 
“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. Toyota 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.
 
Toyota 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.