Toyota Motor Corp. will suspend operations on more than half of its operations in Japan and study potential overseas production disruptions due to supply chain disruptions triggered by a strong earthquake that shook the country.
The carmaker will stop production for three days, starting next week, on 18 lines at 11 factories in Japan, out of a total of 28 lines and 14 factories operating across the country, the carmaker announced on Friday.
Toyota said it would lose about 20,000 production cars from the earthquake caused by the earthquake.
In addition to the already announced extension triggered by cyberattack and microchip shortages, Toyota’s operations in Japan will be reduced by a total of 50,000 units by March, compared to the original plan.
The latest suspensions reduce production of Toyota models, including Crown and Yaris passenger cars, as well as RAV4, Harrier, C-HR crossovers and Land Cruiser SUVs.
Lexus LS and IC sedans, RC and LC coupe and the NX crossover will also be affected.
Toyota reduced global production in April by 17% to 750,000 units. This perspective did not take into account the potential disruption of the earthquake or war in Ukraine.
Providers Restart slowly
However, post-earthquake providers have gradually resumed online operations.
The critical semiconductor manufacturer Renesas Electronics Corp. said it had partially recovered test production at two of the three factories following the quake. These factories, the Naka and Takasaki factories, should reach their maximum production capacity before the March 23 earthquake.
Separately, Toyota Denso Corp. said some of its factories were damaged in the earthquake and are still being investigated.
Meanwhile, Hachi-affiliated Hitachi Astemo has suspended operations at five factories in the disaster area while teams assess the damage to the facility.
A Hitachi Astemo spokesman said several factories were damaged, but the company did not expect major disruptions.
The company monitors its own supply of low-level supplier components and aims to initiate a gradual restart of the factories.
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