Toyota Motor Corp on Wednesday said that it was planning to halt production at more of its European and Asian factories as coronavirus fears continue to spread and affect businesses across the globe. The Japanese carmaker has already halted production in its Philippines plant through mid-April and will soon be taking similar measures at a number of other facilities in Europe starting Wednesday.
Governments of different counties, especially where coronavirus has made the maximum impact, have been urging non-essential businesses to temporarily halt operations in order to contain the spread of the deadly virus. Not only Toyota, a number of other Japanese carmakers too have been contemplating taking similar measures, which is likely to further hit the already-ailing global automobile industry.
Production to be halted through next week
Toyota on Wednesday said that it will temporarily suspend product and shutter more plants in Europe and Asia, where coronavirus has spreading the most. The Japanese car giant said in a statement that it has will stop production at its UK factories in Burnaston, near Derby, as well as an engine-making factory at Deeside, North Wales, following the conclusion of Wednesday's shift.
Also, it will halt production at its facility in Poland from Wednesday. Toyota in a statement said: "With the acceleration of the coronavirus in various European countries or regions and the associated 'lock-down' measures taken by various national and regional authorities, an uncertain short-term sales outlook and difficulties in logistics and supply chains are being felt and will increase in the next weeks.
Production at another of its facilities in Czech Republic will cease from Thursday, while the one in Turkey will be suspended from Saturday. Toyota had earlier halted production at its factories in France and Philippines. The company's plant in Malaysia will be shuttered from Monday through the end of March. The carmaker also said that that, luckily, its production at the US plants hasn't been affected till now.
Other Japanese carmakers follow Toyota
A number of other Japanese carmakers too are following in the footsteps of Toyota and shuttering factories across Europe and Asia. Nissan Motor Company said that it has temporarily shut both its factories in Spain and the one in the UK. Honda Motor Co has also temporarily closing all its dealerships in Italy, where coronavirus is spreading at an alarming rate.
Other European carmakers like Volkswagen too will are suspending production for the next 10 days, as the virus outbreak is disrupting its supply chain. However, much like Toyota, Honda and Nissan too have said that production at their factories in North America so far remain unaffected although the United States and Canada have been implementing restrictions to contain the spread of the disease.
