Toyota Braces for U.S. Plant Shutdowns

Yesterday, Toyota announced it expected “production interruptions” to its U.S.-based manufacturing due to low parts supplies from Japan. Toyota is the first Japanese automaker to make such a statement since an earthquake devastated Japan earlier this month.

All 13 North American plants could see a work stoppage, but the company hasn’t announced any specific locations. Best-selling vehicles like the Toyota Camry, Corolla, Highlander and Sienna are all assembled in North America.

As of March 1, Toyota had a 67-day supply of new vehicles on dealer lots. The industry average is 60 days. There are more than 40,000 new Camrys in Cars.com’s national inventory, which is more than twice that of the Ford Fusion. In the near term, some of the better-selling models like the Camry should still be readily available at dealerships, but if plants do shut down, expect the selection to dwindle quickly.

Honda and Nissan also have significant North American production, with many cars assembled here using a combination of parts sourced from both sides of the Pacific. As of yesterday, both companies said their U.S. production would not be impacted.

Domestic and European automakers also rely on Japanese parts for many vehicles. GM has already stopped production at one U.S. plant due to a parts shortage.