ERLANGER, KY – Toyota announced that its production levels in North America will be back to 100 percent by September, and that production has recovered earlier than the company anticipated after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Toyota said current production has improved to better than 80 percent of normal and will stay at this level through August. Eight of the company’s 12 North American-built models returned to 100 percent production on June 6.

Automotive Fleet contacted Toyota to see how this will affect fleet orders and received the following response: "Now that we've announced that we will be back to 100 percent of North American production by September, well ahead of schedule, fleet managers can expect that the supply situation will continue to improve," said Randy Pflughaupt, Group Vice President, Sales Administration, for Toyota. "It's great news for all of our customers."

“After September we will focus on making-up lost production as much as possible,” said Steve St. Angelo, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing, North America. “Our team members and suppliers here and in Japan have worked tirelessly to get us back to 100 percent, overcoming many challenges. The effort in Japan has been incredible, especially in the midst of such tragedy and devastation.”

Update:Automotive Fleet received an update on fleet orders from Toyota, which is now included above.

By Greg Basich