STEVE INSKEEP, Host: NPR's business news starts with more delays for Toyota.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, Host: All right. The carmaker was supposed to launch a new version of its Prius hybrid car today in Japan. Now Toyota says some buyers will have to wait until next year for deliveries because of shortages of a new battery. The shortage is the result of production delays caused by the March earthquake and tsunami.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, Host: The new Prius is a minivan style of the popular hybrid and it's set to go on sale in North America later this year. The delay, though, comes on top of another tough announcement this week from Toyota. It said quarterly profits had dropped more than 75 percent.
Toyota was supposed to launch a new version of its Prius hybrid car Friday in Japan. But some buyers will have to wait until next year for delivery, because of shortages of a new battery. The shortage is the result of production delays caused by the March earthquake and tsunami.