The damage caused by last month’s earthquake and tsunami is too much for Toyota Motor Corp., which announced on Friday that its global car production is expected to remain disrupted until November or December. With a massive shortage of parts after suppliers in northeastern Japan suffered major damage, the company’s president apologized to customers for the delays he expects.
Toyoda Apologizes to Customers
Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota, apologized to customers in a statement released before a press conference on Friday, stating “I sincerely apologize for the enormous delay in delivery.”
The world’s No. 1 automaker had to stop production in March after the disasters ravaged many areas, killing some 25,000 and ruining facilities used by some of the company’s suppliers. So far, Toyota has lost a production total of 260,000 cars.
Earlier this week, the automaker resumed car production at all of its plants for the first time. But the plants are only operating at half capacity and are expected to do so until November or December. The slowed production is expected to not only impact the company’s revenue, but could also increase car prices due to a spike in demand.
Toyota Recalls 333,000 SUVs
In related news, the automaker announced on Thursday that it was recalling about 333,000 SUVs due to a risk that sensors could fail and cause the curtain airbags to accidentally deploy.
The following vehicles are affected by the recall:
- 214,000 RAV4 SUVs in the U.S. and about 19,000 in Canada
- 94,000 Highlander SUVs in the U.S. and about 6,000 in Canada
All vehicles were made in the 2007 and 2008 model years.
While owners of these vehicles are expected to be notified by mail in May, others who are in the market for a Toyota SUV may want to be cautious about buying recalled cars until all vehicles have been fixed.
