Toyota output reduced until end of year

Toyota Motor Corp., the world's biggest automaker, said Friday it won't get its global car production back to normal until November or December.

Toyota's production has been disrupted by parts shortages in the wake of Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami, which killed an estimated 25,000 people.

"To all the customers who made the decision to buy a vehiclemade by us, I sincerely apologize for the enormous delay in delivery," Toyoda said at a Tokyo news conference.

The company said the parts shortage has already resulted in the production loss of 260,000 cars.

Earlier this week, Toyota's Japanese plants all resumed production for the first time since the quake and tsunami, but they are only operating at 50 per cent of their capacity.

Toyota's North American plants are not operating on Mondays and Fridays from April 26 to June 3. The plants, which include Ontario factories in Cambridge and Woodstock, will run at half capacity on the other days of the week, and they will halt production in late May for holidays.

The reduced production could threaten Toyota's position as the top automobile company. General Motors could take back the number one spot, which it lost in 2008.

In 2010, Toyota sold 8.42 million vehicles, while GMsold 8.39 million.