Toyota admits shortage of 500 parts, can’t tell when full production resumes

With the disruption of supplies to carmakers’ plants, it would take a considerable amount of time before full production of Japanese automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. will resume. A Toyota spokesman revealed that there is a problem with the supply of 500 parts, making it quite impossible to estimate when things will get back to normal. A source told Reuters that Toyota had informed its primary suppliers that production won’t resume until April 11 at the earliest. Eighteen of Toyota’s domestic factories have stopped running while two continue production. These two plants started to build a limited number of three hybrid models, such as the Prius, last Monday.

Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn went to one of its factories in the northeast of Japan where he told workers that he aims to have the site return to full production levels by early June at the latest, according to Autonews. This engine factory is located in Iwaki, which is only about 50 km (30 miles) away from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, where efforts are ongoing to control the radiation.

According to a Nissan spokesman, Ghosn has no plans to shut down the site. Ghosn said that he is monitoring Nissan’s suppliers and that he expects the factory to be ready to begin production at the end of April and to achieve full production in June. In a recent interview with Reuters, Nissan said that it seeks for production to be normal starting mid-April with the expected deliveries from suppliers. However, it also anticipates that deliveries of several parts will take a longer time to stabilize.[via - 4wheelsnews]