Following two powerful earthquakes that hit the Island of Kyushu in south-western Japan last week, Toyota have announced that it would suspend most of its production at plants across Japan this week after earthquakes led to a shortage of parts, while some other manufacturers extended stoppages due to damage to factories.
The quakes that killed at least 41 people and caused severe destruction to buildings and infrastructure. The first quake hit the Kyushu Island on 14 April leaving 1,000 people injured and 11 still missing. This was followed by the second quake that rocked Kumamoto on 16 April.
Honda said it will halt operations at its motorcycle plant at Kumamoto factory until April 22, 2016, stating that subsequent production plans will be determined according to facility restorations and component supply.
Meanwhile Toyota said it would suspend operations in stages at most of its vehicle assembly plants across Japan for roughly a week beginning 18th April as it was unable to source parts from some of its suppliers including Aisin Seiki.
“Decisions regarding recommencement of operation at plants in Japan will be made on the basis of availability of parts,” said Toyota in a statement.
Aisin Seiki, whose plants in Kumamoto sustained damage from the quake, said it would make the parts produced in the quake-hit city in other facilities at home and abroad. The parts include sun roofs, door handles, semiconductors and other products.
“If there’s a part we make in Kumamoto which is identical to a part we make at the Aisin headquarters in Aichi (in central Japan) we’ll shift production there,” said an Aisin spokesman.
Aisin stressed that it had kept to the “just in time” system, and hadn’t built up big inventories, but instead did have robust plans for shifting production elsewhere.
“As a Toyota-affiliated company, we don’t hold significant inventory,” the spokesman said. “So as a rule we wouldn’t have been holding inventories to last, say, one week or a month.”
According to Bloomberg, Toyota’s loss of production may reach 56,000 vehicles for Toyota and Lexus and 7,500 units for minicar maker Daihatsu.
Chipmaker Renesas Electronics also said there had been damage to some equipment at its Kumamoto plant, which produces micro-controller chips for cars.
Other automakers including Nissan, Subaru and Mazda continue to resume their operations at their assembly plants today and checking with components makers about whether their supply chains would impact production.
Source: Reuters
