Toyota’s Japanese plants to resume production by April 18

Toyota Motor Corp., Japan’s largest vehicle manufacturer, expects to resume production at all of its domestic plants by April 18. The auto plants closed after the earthquake hit Japan on March 11. The company said the plants will be operating at 50% capacity through April 27. The Toyota plants will cease production again for Golden Week holidays from April 28 to May 9. The company has suffered a production loss of 260,000 cars during the recent production stoppage. There is still a parts shortage problem of approximately 500 types of components. Toyota resumed production of three models, including the Prius, at two plants on March 28. (April 8,2011)