Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday its global car production, disrupted by parts shortages from last month's earthquake and tsunami, won't return to normal until November or December.
Company President Akio Toyoda apologized to customers in a statement for the delays due to the twin disasters that damaged suppliers in northeastern Japan.
"To all the customers who made the decision to buy a vehicle by us, I sincerely apologize for the enormous delay in delivery," Toyoda said in a statement released before a press conference.
Toyota, the world's No. 1 automaker last year, says the March 11 disasters, which killed some 25,000 people, have already caused a production loss of 260,000 cars.
Earlier this week, Toyota resumed car production at all of its plants in Japan for the first time since last month's massive earthquake and tsunami.
