Toyota is Back!

The earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan last month left the auto industry in disarray. Crippling the infrastructure as well as many cars in the process, Toyota had a particularly hard time dealing with the aftermath.

With plants being shut and others operating at a minimal level, no significant developments or productions could be made. While avoiding major physical damage to the plants themselves, the shipping and distribution networks have been severely affected. This had a direct correlation in causing the car manufacturer to lose a great deal of its inertia.

It was announced today that production was to resume at half the capacity. The 18 factories that produce both Lexus and Toyota cars have had the necessary checks completed and are currently scheduled to reopen. Aiming for April 18th Toyota still has a great deal of work ahead of it before full production can be met.

The plants were particularly keen on reestablishing the Lexus HS 250h as well as the famed Toyota Prius line to help to bridge the 250,000-500,000 vehicle production loss that was a result of this disaster.

With the Prius recently breaking the US 1 million mark, the cars place is highly praised. However, with the recent disaster and faced with shortages of parts, the Japanese plants have had to limit is distribution overseas in order to focus on the production nationally.

With the high cost of gas, the Prius’s place is highly demanded both in Japan and abroad, causing some divisions to lower the cost of the car to balance out the disaster in Japan.  In Australia the decision to lower prices around $5000 had been hailed as a successful sales tactic in a time of ecofriendly innovation.

With demand high and supply’s quite low, all this is believed to boost sales and the cars media presence in the market. While its competitors are also dealing with the setback, Toyota is set for a quick rebound.