Toyota output return to normal by December 2011

Toyota Motor Corp announced that it could take until the end of the year before production has fully recovered to levels before the massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11 devastated Japan's northeast, disrupting the supply of key parts.

Below is the brief summary:

Japan output to start normalising in July, overseas in August

Expects full recovery in November or December globally

Lost output of 400,000 units in Japan, 100,000 overseas as of end-April.
As per the statement by the company output would start to pick up in July in Japan and in August overseas and a full recovery expected in November or December. Meanwhile its domestic( Japan ) production will continue with half  of original plans and globally at an average of 40%. This announcements came after Japan's Renesas Electronics Corp , a major supplier of chips to the auto industry, said it would resume operations at a damaged factory north of Tokyo on June 15. This announcement has cheered up investors and shares of auto stocks in Japan reversed their early losses and traded sharply higher. "Toyota provided a clarity on issues that how long it will last which is positive news" Deutsche Securities auto analyst Kurt Sanger said.

Shares in Toyota ended up 3.1 percent, while Nissan Motor Co put on 3.6 percent and Honda Motor Co gained 2.3 percent.

"According to what we're hearing directly from companies, it looks like the recovery on the ground is faster than people think, and Toyota may well restart production even faster than they stated in this announcement," said Tetsuro Ii, chief executive officer of Commons Asset Management.

RETHINKING PARTS PROCUREMENT

Japanese automakers have slashed production due to the shortage mostly of electronic and resin-based parts due to the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and the resulting tsunami and damage to a major nuclear plant that has disrupted power supply.

President Toyoda said Toyota did not yet know which car models would be built at what levels during the normalizing production towards the end of the year. But he said that giving even a rough sense of timing would be a help to dealers, and finally to the customers.

The disruption of parts supply in Japan has also affected car makers overseas such as General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co.

For its part, Toyota's manufacturing chief, Executive Vice President Atsushi Niimi, said the automaker remained committed to building at least 3.0-3.2 million vehicles a year in Japan in an effort to keep the tradition of "monozukuri", or manufacturing, strong in the country. 
( Source: Reuters)
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