NEWS

The new coronavirus outbreak in Japan has further disrupted the production plans of Toyota Motor and other Japanese automakers, according to foreign media reports.

On Jan. 20, Toyota said it would suspend production on 21 production lines at 11 of its Japanese plants for four days, starting Jan. 17. Toyota has been forced to temporarily close its factories in Japan because of a rising number of workers infected with COVID-19 at its factories and at its suppliers.

Toyota has 14 factories in Japan. Toyota's output losses in Japan will widen to 47, 000 vehicles in January, more than double the 20, 000 vehicles it had previously announced would be cut due to a core loss. The shutdown is expected to affect production of Toyota's Crown sedan and Land Cruiser SUV, among other models.

A series of COVID-19 cases have been reported at Toyota's Tsutsumi plant in Aichi Prefecture. On January 20, Toyota reported four new COVID-19 cases at the plant, bringing the total to 18. The infection caused the plant to cancel the day shift on Jan. 19 and the night shift on Jan. 20. Toyota did not elaborate on the COVID-19 status of its suppliers.