Toyota to Continue Production Halt until Fri.

Reuters file photo
A man walks past a Toyota logo at the Tokyo Motor Show, in Tokyo

Nagoya, Oct. 18 (Jiji Press)—Toyota Motor Corp. will halt operations on a total of up to 13 production lines at eight vehicle plants in Japan until Friday, due to the impact of a fire that broke out at a parts supplier on Monday, company officials said Wednesday.

The production halt expanded to 11 production lines at seven plants by Wednesday, and will shrink to 10 lines at six plants on Thursday. On Friday, the halt will expand again to 13 lines at eight plants as two plants of Toyota Motor East Japan Inc. are running out of stock for the affected parts.

“We are working to minimize the impact,” a Toyota spokesperson said.

About operations on Monday and beyond, the company will make a decision Friday afternoon.

The fire was caused by an explosion at Chuo Spring Co.’s Fujioka plant in the city of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture. The explosion damaged the plant building and injured two workers. The incident has disrupted the supply of spring parts.

Toyota and Chuo Spring are rushing to manufacture the affected parts elsewhere and secure replacement products, but it remains uncertain when production will be normalized.