Toyota production back to pre-tsunami levels

Toyota Motor's global production recovered to pre-tsunami levels in September, two months earlier than forecast, company officials quoted by Japanese media said Thursday. The world's biggest automaker was again able to assemble all the vehicles ordered both in Japan and abroad as supplies of components and parts returned to normal, the officials said. Many Toyota group plants in Japan were forced to cut or suspend production after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami which ravaged northeast Japan, destroying some component factories and severely disrupting supply chains. The lack of parts from Japan also hampered Toyota production abroad, particularly in the United States and South Asia. Sales by the world's biggest car maker were hammered in the April-June quarter due to its inability to produce at normal levels. Assembly lines have restarted or gradually increased production since the disaster but Toyota had thought the situation would not return to normal until November or December. Despite the faster-than-expected recovery, there are still likely to be long waits for delivery of some popular vehicles. For eight models, including the Prius hybrid, the wait should not exceed three months, according to officials quoted by Kyodo News agency. Many component manufacturers that are key to auto production are based in the worst-hit regions of Japan, their facilities damaged by the 9.0-magnitude seabed quake or swamped by the giant wave that followed. The damage to their facilities has hit the auto sector for months.