Market Watch reports production at Toyota Corp.'s Japanese plants is set to partially restart on Tuesday.
The reopening is Toyota's first step towards resurgence of normal operations after a full-scale shutdown Thursday because of the lack of critical parts from Riken Corp., which is reportedly battling to restore its own operations following last week's earthquake.
Toyota is set to resume production on Tuesday at 20 assembly lines across its 12 factories. The automaker has not yet finalized its operational plan for Wednesday.
According to reports, Toyota Motor Corp. President Katsuaki Watanabe said on Monday the production halt would not give impact on group sales targets for this year. Toyota expects the production break to result in a loss of 55,000 vehicles, but anticipates making up later this year.
Reports say engine-parts maker Riken resumed limited shipments of automotive parts to some customers Monday. It partially restarted some production lines Sunday at its Kashiwazaki factory in Niigata territory, which had seen production disrupted since a powerful earthquake affected the region last week.
Nikkei News previously reported Riken holds 50% of the market share in Japan in piston rings for engines and 70% of the share in transmission sealant components. It also delivers to huge European manufacturers. The discontinuation of Riken production has resulted to shortages and shutdowns at Japan's 8 big automaker and forced shutdowns at other machinery makers.
The Nikkei reported the continuation of the automotive-part supply chain allowed Isuzu Motors Ltd. And Daihatsu catalytic converter maker to resume partial production Monday. But operations at the two car firms will return to normal next week at the earliest.
Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp. and Nissan Diesel Motor Corp, both truck makers, also reopened operations Monday, while Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu Motor Co. was able to partially resume operations at two of its four factories. Daihatsu announced it plans to resume output at its Osaka plant Tuesday morning.
Reports say Suzuki Motor Co. renewed production at motorcycle assembly plants Monday; however its car and truck production lines remain a halt.
Mazda Motor Corp. claimed it was planning to resume production Monday night at its plant in Yamaguchi west Japan, while assembly lines at another plant in Hiroshima will reopen Tuesday morning.
Production at Toyota's assembly lines has been disturbed since July 19, making an output loss of nearly 11,000 vehicles per day.
On Monday, Toyota shares ended 1.2 percent lower, in consonance with decreases in the benchmark Nikkei 225 Average, which fell 1.1 percent to 17,963.64.
Kubota Corp. (construction-machinery maker) became the latest to postponed operations due of the inadequacy, announcing last week it will suspend four assembly plants for up to three days starting Monday.
Honda Motor Co. Ltd. announced previously it would shut operations at three Japanese plants on Monday and Tuesday, trimming local production by some 4,800 vehicles per day.
Aside from Toyota and Honda, Nissan Motor Co, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Suzuki Motor Corp. last week said they had temporarily stopped production due to the parts shortage.
About the Author
Evander Klum is a Business Administration graduate who hails from Alabama. He enjoys extreme sports and he is also a car racing fanatic. At present, he works as a marketing manager at an advertising agency in Cleveland.
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