Toyota temporarily halts production in Japan due to cyberattack

Toyota will suspend all factory operations in its home country of Japan starting Tuesday after an OEM supplier was threatened with a cyberat...

Toyota will suspend all factory operations in its home country of Japan starting Tuesday after an OEM supplier was threatened with a cyberattack. “Due to a system failure at a domestic supplier (Kojima Industries Corporation), we have decided to suspend operation of 28 lines at 14 factories in Japan on Tuesday, March 1 (both shifts 1 and 2). We apologize to the relevant suppliers and customers for any inconvenience caused," Toyota said in a statement.

Regarding the Russian Offensive?

"We will also continue to work closely with our suppliers in strengthening the supply chain and make every effort to deliver vehicles to our customers as soon as possible." added Toyota. The Nikkei reported that Kojima Industries supplied Toyota plastic parts and electronic components and did not appear to know the reason and who was behind the attack. It is also unclear whether the attack on Kojima was related to the sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. 

For information, Toyota has 28 assembly lines in 14 factories in Japan. If limited to just one day, the plant shutdown would result in Toyota “losing” 13,000 cars But it can last longer. The Nikkei said Toyota was looking into the possibility of restarting production this weekend. The news will be very frustrating for Toyota after two years of production disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and semiconductor supply problems.

Not Only Japan

Toyota's efforts to fight back to full production by 2022 have suffered many setbacks. Autonews reports that Toyota's production fell 15 percent in January compared to January last year. Earlier in February, Toyota's North American operations were disrupted by demonstrations that disrupted trade routes between the US and Canada. Because the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor with Detroit is closed for almost a week after being blocked by protesters over restrictions on freedom.

As a result of this disturbance, Toyota has been forced to reduce its output projections for this year. The previous target was 9 million units for the fiscal year to March, has now been reduced to 8.5 million units. Many of about 400 major suppliers directly related to Toyota connected to a just-in-time production system, which allowed trouble at Kojima Industries to spill over to Toyota. Automakers halted production to prevent long-term damage, and prioritized system checks and restoration

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