By Deepa Seetharaman and Dena Aubin
NEW YORK, April 19 (Reuters) - Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Co said on Tuesday it would cut U.S. vehicle production and may have to lower its 2011 U.S. sales target despite some improvement in the flow of parts from Japan.
Toyota also said that from April 26 to June 3 it would cut production by 70 percent at its North American assembly plants. Workers will have four-hour shifts three days a week instead of eight-hour shifts three days a week.
Starting April 15, Toyota put its plants on a three-day work week instead of its usual eight-hour shifts five days week. About 30,000 Toyota plant employees in North America will remain on the job during the slowdown, spokesman Mike Goss said.
Automakers have been plagued by parts shortages, especially specialized electronics, since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Bob Carter, group vice president of Toyota's U.S. sales unit, said Toyota had found that most of its parts shortages stemmed from problems at smaller, lower-tier companies that supply lower-cost components.
Carter conceded that Toyota may have to lower its 2011 U.S. sales target if supply disruptions extend into the summer. But he said Toyota was making progress in narrowing the list of parts in short supply.
'Several weeks ago we were watching the supply chain on about 500 parts. Today that (is) down to less than 150 parts,' Carter said at the NADA/IHS Automotive Forum before the New York Auto Show.
'It's possible that we may need to adjust the sales targets,' Carter said. 'As another week goes by we should have more and more clarity.'
Toyota began the year looking to bounce back from a series of safety problems that cost it sales in 2010 and its spot as the No. 2 automaker in the U.S. market.
The company had set a goal of growing faster than the rest of the industry in 2011, outpacing industry-wide sales growth expected to top 10 percent.
Toyota's plants in Japan are making half the normal number of vehicles because of supply disruptions.
Brian Carolin, senior vice president of sales for Nissan in North America, said Nissan's Japanese factories were at close to 50 percent of their production capacity.
'We'll do everything within our power to hit our sales targets this year,' said Carolin, also at the NADA/IHS Automotive Forum. 'We're pretty confident that by the time we get to May, we'll be close to full capacity at most of those factories.'
(Additional reporting by Bernie Woodall in Detroit) Keywords: TOYOTA/SALES (deepa.seetharaman@thomsonreuters.com; +1 313 416 4072) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
NEW YORK, April 19 (Reuters) - Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Co said on Tuesday it would cut U.S. vehicle production and may have to lower its 2011 U.S. sales target despite some improvement in the flow of parts from Japan.
Toyota also said that from April 26 to June 3 it would cut production by 70 percent at its North American assembly plants. Workers will have four-hour shifts three days a week instead of eight-hour shifts three days a week.
Starting April 15, Toyota put its plants on a three-day work week instead of its usual eight-hour shifts five days week. About 30,000 Toyota plant employees in North America will remain on the job during the slowdown, spokesman Mike Goss said.
Automakers have been plagued by parts shortages, especially specialized electronics, since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Bob Carter, group vice president of Toyota's U.S. sales unit, said Toyota had found that most of its parts shortages stemmed from problems at smaller, lower-tier companies that supply lower-cost components.
Carter conceded that Toyota may have to lower its 2011 U.S. sales target if supply disruptions extend into the summer. But he said Toyota was making progress in narrowing the list of parts in short supply.
'Several weeks ago we were watching the supply chain on about 500 parts. Today that (is) down to less than 150 parts,' Carter said at the NADA/IHS Automotive Forum before the New York Auto Show.
'It's possible that we may need to adjust the sales targets,' Carter said. 'As another week goes by we should have more and more clarity.'
Toyota began the year looking to bounce back from a series of safety problems that cost it sales in 2010 and its spot as the No. 2 automaker in the U.S. market.
The company had set a goal of growing faster than the rest of the industry in 2011, outpacing industry-wide sales growth expected to top 10 percent.
Toyota's plants in Japan are making half the normal number of vehicles because of supply disruptions.
Brian Carolin, senior vice president of sales for Nissan in North America, said Nissan's Japanese factories were at close to 50 percent of their production capacity.
'We'll do everything within our power to hit our sales targets this year,' said Carolin, also at the NADA/IHS Automotive Forum. 'We're pretty confident that by the time we get to May, we'll be close to full capacity at most of those factories.'
(Additional reporting by Bernie Woodall in Detroit) Keywords: TOYOTA/SALES (deepa.seetharaman@thomsonreuters.com; +1 313 416 4072) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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