Toyota's temporary plant suspensions to cover Europe, Russia

Source: Xinhua | 2020-03-31

Toyota Motor Corp. on Monday said it will halt operations at all of its plants in Europe and Russia in a bid to try and curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The world's second largest automaker said it will temporarily shutter operations at its plant in Russia for five days, while those in six countries across Europe will be suspended from operating until April 19 at the earliest.

The Aichi Prefecture-based auto giant also said Monday that its operations in Thailand and Vietnam will also be temporarily halted.

The expansion of halts to Toyota's global plant operations follows plants being shuttered through April 17 in the United States and Canada, with some domestic lines also being suspended from Friday.

Toyota announced, however, that production at all four of its plants in China, have returned to normal.

In addition, sources close to the matter said late last week that Toyota is looking for 1 trillion yen (9.27 billion U.S. dollars) in credit from domestic banks as it grapples with increasing funding costs in the market due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The automaker is looking to prepare for and cushion against the financial impact the coronavirus will have on the firm if the global situation continues to worsen.

Megabanks Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and MUFG Bank are likely to provide the credit line, the sources said.

As Toyota contends with worldwide and domestic plant closures amid the pandemic, it will be able to, as needs dictate, access 500 billion yen from each of the banks, they added.

As of the end of last year, Toyota recorded 5.2 trillion yen (48.21 billion U.S. dollars) in cash and deposits.

Amid its global and domestic suspension of plants, Toyota is believed to still be on a steady financial footing.