Toronto, Ontario — Sept. 30, 2019 — After experiencing months of parts delays, Toyota Canada says it is making progress toward restoring its normal service levels.
The automaker has reportedly added a third overnight shift at one of its parts distribution centres in an effort to speed up delivery. It said it has been working around the clock and on weekends to ship parts in record volumes in an attempt to accommodate delays.
“We have been doing everything we can to return to our normal service levels as quickly as possible,” David Shum, team lead of corporate communications at Toyota Canada told Collision Repair in an email statement. “We added a third, overnight shift at our parts distribution centre, so our team has been working around the clock, and on weekends to catch up, and we’re definitely seeing significant progress.”
However, it may still be several days before the parts meet their destinations.
“Over the past week, we’ve been shipping parts in record volumes,” Shum said. “The parts are making their way through the system, but this takes some time, so it may still be a few days before some of them reach their destinations.”
Toyota customers have been experiencing delays for the OEM parts since late August. Toyota Canada told Collision Repair the delays are a result of the automaker overhauling and modernizing its systems.
“Toyota Canada has been overhauling and modernizing all its systems,” said Shum. “As a result, we have been encountering some delays in parts deliveries. We sincerely apologize to our customers for these unusual delays.”
The automaker has denied that the delays were related to the opening of Toyota’s new Eastern Canada parts distribution centre in Clarington, Ont. The move from the Scarborough, Ont. facility to the new Clarington one, originally scheduled to take place this fall, had been put off until spring 2020.
Toyota has said it is working hard with customers to solve any problems. The automaker encourages customers with questions or concerns to contact Toyota customer service centres at 1-888-TOYOTA8 or 1-800-26LEXUS.
