Toyota warns dealers of new vehicle shortages in the summer

In a memo to its United States dealers, Toyota said that new vehicles could be in short supply this summer due to production slowdowns in North American and Japan. In the memo, Toyota’s U.S. general manager Bob Carter said that the company is producing cars and trucks at a significantly reduced level in April and hasn’t set the production schedule for May through July.

“The potential exists that supply of new vehicles could be significantly impacted this summer,” Carter said.

Production of Toyota vehicles have been hit by parts shortages after hundreds of suppliers were damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Toyota’s North American plants are going to have one-day shutdowns starting Friday due to parts shortages.  All of Toyota’s 13 plants will have some downtime. The temporary shutdowns will affect 25,000 workers, but there will be no layoffs.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: MSNBC