Following Japan's earthquake and nuclear disaster that has slashed away the local output by almost two-thirds in March; the Toyota Motor Co is forced to lose its crown of being the world's largest automaker.

Since the occurrence of Japan earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 and tsunami, the major nuclear plant there got damaged due to which the power supplies throughout the state were disrupted. This has further hit Japan's auto sector because it badly experienced the shortage of electronic and resin-based parts.

As per reports, in Japan, prior to this disaster, the number of vehicles always overpowered the existence of buyers, but no more is this the situation. It is in fact expected to be the opposite later this summer because the devastating earthquake in Japan has created shortage of many auto parts and this has badly affected the production of some models. Also, due to rise in fuel prices, people are asking for smaller, and more fuel efficient vehicles.

In this regard, Jeff Schuster, executive director of automotive forecasting for market research firm J. D. Power and Associates said "The pendulum has been all over the map during the last couple years for the industry," said "It's not swinging - it's come loose".