Toyota halts half of Japan production lines after powerful quake

TOKYO — Toyota Motor will halt production at 14 Japanese assembly lines for up to four days through Saturday, after a weekend earthquake in northeastern Japan disrupted operations at the automaker’s suppliers.

The suspension begins as early as Wednesday and affects half of Toyota’s 28 lines at nine factories nationwide, including subsidiaries such as Hino Motors. These lines are involved in producing a wide range of models, from the Harrier sport utility vehicle to the luxury Lexus brand.

Some parts makers for Toyota suffered damage from the 7.3-magnitude quake, which rocked Fukushima, Miyagi and other prefectures on Saturday. The automaker said its supply of semiconductors was unaffected.

Toyota did not disclose the number of vehicles likely to be affected. But based on its output from 2019, the company could suffer a decline of roughly 5,000 to 6,000 vehicles per day.

The company has yet to decide on restarting the 14 lines next week, and will base the decision on conditions at its suppliers.

Other big Japanese automakers have no plans to adjust output over the Saturday quake. Nissan Motor’s engine factory in Fukushima did not suffer damage. Mazda Motor also said it has no plans to reduce output due to damage at suppliers.

Honda Motor, Suzuki Motor, Mitsubishi Motors and Subaru plan to continue production as usual as well.

Many automakers were forced to halt production lines in Japan and abroad following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, owing to the impact on Renesas Electronics, a key supplier of automotive chips. Toyota suspended all production in Japan and did not return to full capacity for roughly a month.

But the automaker says its chip supply is not a concern this time around. Renesas started resuming production in stages on Wednesday.