Toyota Motor Corp said it would suspend night shift operation at a production line at its factory in central Japan on Tuesday due to an outbreak of COVID-19 , after halting operations there also on Monday night.
The suspension comes as the Japanese automaker is trying to ramp up production after COVID-19 lockdowns in China and global chip shortages forced it to repeatedly cut production in the April quarter. to June, remaining 10% below its initially planned target.
A total of 16 workers at the Tsutsumi plant in Aichi prefecture have been infected with COVID, making it difficult for the company to secure a sufficient number of workers for operations, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
This plant, opened in 1970, produces the Prius and Corolla models, among others. Some 660 vehicles would be affected by the suspension.
Toyota had stopped night shift operations at another factory for two days for the same reason in late July; while in May and June it stopped producing 50,000 units due to the lack of supply of parts due to the outbreak in Shanghai, China.
The Tsutsumi plant was also affected in this stoppage in May and June.
The world’s biggest automaker by sales has kept its global production target of 9.7 million for the year ending March 2023, saying output and sales were on the recovery track as of this month.
With information from Reuters
