Toyota’s Car Production Back at Pre-Tsunami Levels

Toyota’s global vehicle production has recovered to pre-tsunami levels as of last month, Japan’s top automaker said Thursday.

The March 11 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan disrupted production at Toyota Motor Corp. and other automakers because parts suppliers in northeastern Japan were damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Toyota initially said it didn’t expect production to return to normal until late this year.

It said in June that production would be nearly back to normal in July. In August, it said it would be completely recovered in September. The latest confirmation highlights Toyota’s ability to bounce back.

Toyota, which was the world’s biggest automaker in annual vehicle sales last year, sank to No. 3 in the first half of this year, trailing U.S. rival General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG of Germany.

Toyota workers will be racking up overtime and doing extra shifts in coming months to make up for lost production from the disaster, the maker of the Prius hybrid and Camry sedan said.