Automakers and dealers continue to deal with the aftermath of the recent earthquake in Japan, and the latest word is that car dealers may be facing some seriously short supplies come summertime.

Up to this point, most of the news revealed by automakers has been with regards to temporary plant closings and stoppages in production. While not a good sign, these announcements did not directly confirm that dealers could expect a shortage of vehicles for the coming months. However, Toyota has released a memo that speaks to exactly that fact.

"Toyota will be producing new vehicles at significantly reduced levels," Bob Carter, group vice president of U.S. sales, wrote in a memo to dealers. "What we don’t know are vehicle production levels for May through July. The potential exists that supply of new vehicles could be significantly impacted this summer."

The memo does it make clear whether the issues are only affecting Toyota or all automakers. Toyota will lose production of at least 35,000 cars and trucks at its North American factories due to stoppages in March and April. It's unclear how many cars will be lost because of production stoppages in Japan.

Drivers interested in a used Toyota or any other vehicle may want to head to New Jersey State Auto Auction soon, before the model that they have their eye on ends up becoming tough to find.