TOKYO: Toyota's car production in Japan plummeted a staggering 62.7 percent in March due to a parts supply crunch following the earthquake and tsunami. Toyota Motor Corp., the world's top-selling automaker last year, said Monday its domestic production in March was 129,491 vehicles — the lowest since 1976 when Toyota began maintaining production figures. The magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami on March 11 destroyed many factories in northeastern Japan, causing severe parts shortages for Toyota and other automakers. Honda Motor Co. said Monday its auto factories in Japan will operate at half capacity until the end of June, and the company expected to return to full production in Japan by the end of this year. The supply crunch forced Toyota to suspend manufacturing in Japan, resulting in a production loss of 260,000 cars. Toyota said Monday it is still struggling to secure around 150 types of auto parts. “The impact of the tsunami disaster on Toyota is extremely severe,” said Mamoru Kato, an analyst at Tokai-Tokyo Securities. “Since Toyota depends so much on domestic parts suppliers, any major disruptions in supply chains could cripple its output.” Kato said Toyota could suffer a net loss of 1 trillion yen ($12.2 billion) in the April-June quarter and a net loss of 500 billion yen in the July-September quarter.
