Toyota Motor Corp. is raising its U.S. auto prices by 1.7 percent, on average, the Japanese automaker said today.
The increase takes effect in May for all 2011 models across the company's Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands, reported The Detroit News.
Aside from limited output of Prius and other hybrids, Toyota's production in Japan has been halted since March 14 because of the damage and supply disruptions caused by a massive quake.
Its U.S. dealers have inventory of most models, but Toyota has said its North American assembly plants also are likely to experience production stoppages.
"Toyota maybe facingproduct shortages," said Michelle Krebs, senior analyst at online auto research firm Edmunds.com, "but this is adifficult time to raise prices and stillwin U.S. car buyers.It will be interesting to see whether Toyota'scompetitorswill beef up incentive programsgiven the opportunity to grab market share."
