Toyota Motor Corporation announced on Tuesday that it has halted operations at all 14 of its assembly facilities in Japan owing to a production system problem, effectively halting domestic manufacturing at the world’s largest carmaker.
The malfunction is preventing the ordering of components, and the cause is being investigated, but it is “likely not the result of a cyberattack,” spokesperson disclosed.
Toyota stopped 12 factories in its home market beginning Tuesday morning and added the remaining two in the afternoon, according to a spokesperson. The amount of output lost is unknown.
The plants account for around one-third of the automaker’s global output.
Domestic output has been on the rise following a series of output curbs blamed on semiconductor scarcity. In January–June, output increased by 29%, the first gain in two years.
Japan’s assembly output averaged over 13,500 automobiles per day in the first half of the year. Vehicles from group automakers Daihatsu and Hino are not included.
Last year, operations were suspended for a day due to a cyberattack on a supplier, which hampered Toyota’s capacity to order components. Toyota restarted operations with the help of a backup network.
What happened on Tuesday had repercussions. Toyota Industries (6201.T) stated it had temporarily halted operations at two engine facilities owing to the automaker’s error.
Toyota is a pioneer in just-in-time inventory management, which reduces costs but puts production at risk due to supply chain snarls.
While the source of the current problem remains unknown, corporate Japan has been on high alert in recent days following reports of harassing phone calls from companies and government agencies.
The calls, according to the administration, were most likely from China and were connected to Japan’s dumping of treated radioactive water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.
Toyota’s share price rose 0.12% to 2,439 yen in afternoon trade after falling for most of the morning in the negative.
