BUNKYO-KU, TOKYO – On Tuesday, August 29, Toyota officials announced they were forced to suspend operations at all of its Japanese-based assembly plants after a massive system failure brought production lines of the world’s biggest selling automotive manufacturer to a complete halt.
Toyota denied rumors that the issue was due to a cyberattack, noting that it was most likely a programming glitch that resulted in the company being unable to order components required in the auto assembly process.
As a result of the failure, Toyota initially suspended production at 12 of the country’s 14 plants Tuesday morning; they added the remaining two to the list just hours later, effectively grinding the company’s auto output to a total stop.
It is unknown as of press time how much production ground would be lost on Toyota’s part due to the issue; the 14 Japanese plants combined account for approximately one-third of the automaker’s global production.
This news comes as Toyota’s vehicle output had been on the upswing following a series of supply chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in widespread semiconductor shortages.
Toyota’s productivity had increased by 29 percent throughout the first half of 2023, the first time that the automaker had seen such a jump in two years; at the time of today’s glitch, they were rolling an average of approximately 13,500 vehicles off the assembly line on a daily basis.
A Toyota spokesperson indicated that production is expected to resume at all affected Japanese plants starting on Wednesday. The initial 12 plants that were shut down are expected to resume production in the morning, with the final two expected to be brought back online later in the afternoon.
Experts speculate that the company may need to run extra shifts to make up for the lapse in production, but Toyota has made no such announcements as of yet.
Joe Mcdermott is a journalist, reporter and writer for SEARCHEN NETWORKS® as well as other independent news and media organizations in the United States. Joe works on a wide variety of topics and fields, has been featured in print and online in a variety of publications, from local to national, and helps keep a keen-eye on what’s happening in the automotive world for Auto Buyers Market.