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Toyota Motor Corp. announced to maintain limited output at half capacity in Japan from May 10 to June 3 in the course of a supply crunch following the magnitude 9.0-earthquake and tsunami on March 11 at north-eastern Japan.

The world’s No. 1 automaker said it still remained unclear when the company would return to full production in Japan. Toyota spokeswoman Shiori Hashimoto said the company was struggling to secure around 150 types of auto parts. Moreover, the twin disasters have caused Toyota a production loss of 260,000 cars. Hashimoto added that Toyota will decide later on production plans after June 6.

So far, Toyota has shut down all output in Japan except at three plants, which are running at limited capacity to produce the Prius, two Lexus hybrids and Corolla vehicles.

The company will resume production at all its Japanese plants at half capacity from April 18 to 27, and then halt output from April 28 to May 9, a period that includes Golden Week holidays when factories would normally close.

Although, Toyota had announced on end of last week that production will resume in Japan at half of its capacity. In the other hand, Toyota Motor Corp. said yesterday that it will suspend production in Europe for 8 days due to parts shortages following last month’s massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The move underscored how the supply crunch in the wake of the March 11 twin massive disasters is affecting Toyota’s operations beyond Japan. The world’s No. 1 automaker announced last week it would suspend car production in North America in April.

Toyota said it will halt European output at 5 plants on 8 days between April 21 and May 2 – auto assembly factories in Britain, France and Turkey, and engine plants in Britain and Poland. After the stoppages, the plants will run at limited capacity in May.

The magnitude-9.0 massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami on March 11 destroyed auto parts factories in northeastern Japan, causing severe shortages for Toyota and other automakers. Probably now is not the best time to buy a car.

Malaysian National Automaker Perodua says its production of cars is being disrupted by a shortage of parts from Japan following the March 11 massive earthquake and tsunami in northeast Japan.

Perodua, which is partly owned by Japan’s Daihatsu Motor Corp., says adjustments have been made to ensure inventories last until May. No details are further elaborate.

In a statement yesterday, the compact car maker said it was in talks with Daihatsu and other vendors to resolve the problem, which it described as a temporary setback.

The disruption has already led Perodua to delay the launch of a new car to the second half of the year. It faces pressure to introduce new models to bolster sales and maintain leadership in Southeast Asia’s largest passenger car market amid competition from domestic rival Proton.

After the Japan massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, the latest report on Japan’s March auto sales are reportedly the worst they’ve been since 1968. Overall vehicle sales were down 44.2% from the same month in 2010, while sales of all light cars were down a similarly colossal 32.5% on the month.

With many Japanese automakers and auto parts manufacturers still shut down nearly a month after the quake, we’re guessing the sales slump in Japan will continue at least through April, and possibly throughout another 6 months.

Both Honda and Mazda have announced they will resume limited production of parts and vehicles following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Toyota remains uncertain as to when full production will resume, however the company will raise prices of almost all Scion, Lexus and Toyota models in the US begin May 1, 2011.

Likewise, most of the Japanese car assembly plants around the globe (including Honda and Toyota) are currently facing parts shortage and forced to reduce 50% of its production volume. Parts supply issues and a possibility of price hike are likely unavoidable if the problems does not stabilised. Fully imported models are highly affected in Malaysia for new and used cars including hybrid.

Nonetheless, the parts supply situation in Japan remains fluid for now. Probably, the dream of hybrid cars and its practicality will temporary slow down due to the disaster at this point of time. We can feel the ripple effects of Japan’s worst natural disaster in nearly a century, which has disrupted an array of industries worldwide. We hope for speedy recovery in Japan!

The major Japanese automakers had recently announcing its impacts, damages and plans after the resulting from the March 11, 2011 massive earthquake and tsunami.

Toyota announced to resume production on March 28 for the Prius and two Lexus hybrids – the HS 250h and CT 200h. The Prius is made at the Tsutsumi factory in western Japan, while the Lexus models are produced in the southern island of Kyushu, areas outside the epicenter of the disaster. 18 other Toyota plants remain closed, however, through at least March 28, and the automaker has warned its assembly plants in North America that they could soon face parts shortages that interrupt production.

Honda has moved the restart date of its Japanese plants at its Saitama and Suzuka factories will be extended to April 3 which initially on March 27. Among the vehicles affected are the Fit and CR-V. The Honda research and development centre will be closed for months due to extensive damage. Some of the work being done at the R&D facility has been moved to other Honda facilities in Japan.

Nissan restarted production in Japan on March 24, though the plants are using only existing parts stock with no new parts coming in. The company is studying whether its Tennessee engine plant could supply VQ V6 engines to Japan due to damages sustained at an engine plant in the quake zone. The automaker also lost 1,300 Infiniti models that were damaged at a Japanese port during the quake. However, good news that Nissan will resume production of its Leaf electric car, but warned that rolling blackouts could potentially hamper production at its Oppama assembly plant, where the Leaf is made, and its battery plants in Zama.

Mazda has been running some plants in Japan, though parts are starting to become in short supply. The CX-7 and CX-9 are among the vehicles affected.