The magnitude-9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan on March 11 forced Toyota to temporarily shut down all of the county's plants except for three. But now, for the first time since Japan was struck by the brutal double blow, Toyota has successfully resumed production at all of its facilities.
This doesn't, however, mean things are back to business as usual. As Toyota continues to struggle to secure 150 various auto components, the plants resuming production will operate only at half capacity. Regardless, the plants return to production comes as a most welcome development for not only Toyota employees but also for car dealers and car buyers around the world. According to a Toyota spokeswoman, last month's disasters have caused Toyota a production loss of 260,000 cars.
Far more important, the March 11 tsunami-earthquake disaster left nearly 28,000 people dead or missing in its wake. In Miyagi alone, police report that more than 8,400 people have been killed.
Before resuming work at the Miyagi plant, in Japan, 900 Toyota employees joined in a moment of silence to honor these people and their families. Toru Kuzuhara, President, Central Motor Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Toyota, also conveyed his wishes that Toyota's return to auto production in all of its facilities, including Miyagi, would help to jump start reconstruction efforts across the shaken region.
Stay tuned for more Toyota news, coming soon.R & H Toyota, located at 9801 Reisterstown Road in Owings Mills, Maryland is dedicated to keeping you informed.
