Post-earthquake, Toyota prepares to reopen some plants in Japan

Wed, Apr 20 2016

Toyota will restart vehicle production at most of its closed factories in Japan next week, but the factories that build the Mirai and many Lexus models will remain closed through at least April 28 and possibly longer. The earthquakes around the city of Kumamoto on the island of Kyushu forced the automaker to stop most of its assembly throughout the country due to a lack of parts supply.

Toyota will reopen the plants in phases from April 25 to 28. However, the Motomachi factory with its LFA works, which makes the Mirai, and the Miyata factory will remain closed. These sites also build the Lexus NX, RX, ES, GS, and CT, according to Toyota. The automaker didn't say when production would begin again or how this would affect vehicle supply. "In the update, we received this morning from TMC, they said that at this stage it is too soon to tell what the impact on production will be, so we can't say yet whether there might be vehicle shortages in the US," spokesperson Aaron Fowles told Autoblog.

While the quakes were focused on Kyushu, they damaged Aisin Seiki factories, which supplied parts to Toyota plants across the country. The automaker worked with its partner to import the necessary components from China and Mexico, and Aisin started moving molds from the damaged plants to operational ones in Japan, which gets production under way sooner.

Automotive News Europe estimates the week of lost production cuts total assembly by 90,000 vehicles. It could cost Toyota the equivalent of $458.2 million to $641.5 million. The company could make up some of the losses through overtime.

Toyota says these plans are subject to change because on ongoing tremors in the region, which could cause more damage. Reuters reported there was a magnitude 5.5 aftershock in the Kumamoto area on April 19. So far, the quakes have killed at least 47 people and around 100,000 people have moved to evacuation centers.

Toyota to Restart Production on Vehicle Assembly Lines in Japan from April 25
Apr. 20, 2016

Toyota City, Japan, April 20, 2016-Between April 25 and 28, Toyota will restart production on most of its vehicle assembly lines in Japan.

On April 17, Toyota announced that, due to parts shortages resulting from the severe earthquakes that struck Japan's island of Kyushu last week, production would be suspended on almost all of its vehicle assembly lines in stages between April 18 and 23.

Tentative Schedule of Operations on Vehicle Assembly Lines:

Start of operation	Operated by Toyota Motor Corporation	Operated by Toyota Group companies
April 25 (first shift)	Tsutsumi Plant (lines 1 and 2)	Toyota Industries Corporation Nagakusa Plant (302) Toyota Motor East Japan, Inc. Higashi Fuji Plant, Iwate Plant (line 2)
April 26 (first shift)	Takaoka Plant (line 2), Tahara Plant (line 3)	Toyota Motor East Japan, Inc. Iwate Plant (line 1), Miyagi Ohira Plant
April 27 (first shift)		Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd. Fujimatsu Plant (line 2) Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. Kyoto Plant
April 28 (first shift)	Takaoka Plant (line 1), Tahara Plant (line 1)	Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd. Fujimatsu Plant (line 1), Yoshiwara Plant (lines 1 and 2) Toyota Industries Corporation Nagakusa Plant (301) Hino Motors, Ltd. Hamura Plant (line 2)

Production will remain suspended on the following vehicle assembly lines between April 25 and 28:

Toyota Motor Corporation Motomachi Plant (line 1 and LFA Works)
Toyota Motor Kyushu, Inc. Miyata Plant (lines 1 and 2)
Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd. Inabe Plant (lines 1 and 2)
Gifu Auto Body Co., Ltd.
Hino Motors, Ltd. Hamura Plant (line 1)

Due to ongoing tremors in the affected areas, the vehicle production plans detailed above remain subject to change.

We will continue to make all possible efforts to offer support to the residents of Kumamoto, and hope for the soonest possible recovery of the affected areas.

News Source: Toyota, Automotive News Europe, Reuters
Image Credit: REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Plants/Manufacturing
Lexus
Toyota
earthquake
aisin

By Chris Bruce