Toyota to decide tomorrow whether to resume production

Since the earthquake hit on March 11th, Toyota has focused its efforts on making sure that their employees were safe, followed by checking on the status of their facilities while also aiding local authorities in the clean up. Tomorrow, they will attempt to fully assess the possibilities of resuming production, examining the facilities, the equipment and the availability of the items provided by outside companies. Every day that the company is not producing vehicles, they are losing a reported $72 million US dollars (6 billion yen) so the company would want to get back to business but there is also the issue of frequent power outages surrounding the country’s nuclear power explosions.

While none of the companies production facilities were badly damaged in the earthquake, the company has reported that the assembly lines in their Primearth EV Energy hybrid battery plant; although the extent of the damage and whether or not it will be able to be repaired quickly is not yet known. Toyota has also not been able to assess whether or not they will be able to meet upcoming shipping deadlines to export markets, as there has not been a full review of what (if any) damage has been done to vehicles already built.

As Japanese workers file back in to the Toyota plants around the country tomorrow, we will likely get a better idea at what kind of troubles the company will be in as they work to undo the damages of the recent earthquake and ensuing tsunami – making for one of the biggest losses of life in Japanese history.

Source: Bloomberg

Other Japanese Industry News:
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Nissan updates the world on their post-earthquake status
US auto industry hit by supplier shortages in wake of Japanese Tsunami
Toyota update on damage done by the Japanese earthquake
Honda issues a statement on damages caused by the earthquake and tsunami
Toyota stock trading in New York affected by Japan earthquake