Toyota Expects Big Drop in Supply this Summer

Toyota has announced to its US dealerships that it is expecting a big drop in supply this summer as a result of the continuing effects of the earthquake that rocked the northeast of Japan in March. Toyota acknowledges an increased risk that it will take longer than expected to return to normal production levels as a result of the time it is taking for suppliers in Japan to recover from damage they sustained in the earthquake.

Toyota in the US has about 300,00o cars stockpiled, so there is not expected to be any effect on April sales, but they report that this is not going to be the case between May and July, when supply is not expected to be able to meet demand.

Source: Yomiuri Shinbum (Japanese-language)