Toyota is to shut down production at all its factories in Japan for one day today after a supplier was hit by a cyberattack, a move that will cost the company 13,000 new cars.
The attack, believed to be on a maker of metal, plastic and electronic components, came soon after Japan said that it would join the global sanctions on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. There is no indication that it was connected to Moscow.
“Due to a system failure at a supplier in Japan, we have decided to suspend the operation of 28 lines at all 14 domestic plants on March 1,” the world’s biggest automobile maker said in a statement. The company did not go into detail, but the Nikkei newspaper said that there had been a cyberattack on Kojima Press Industry, an unlisted company based in Toyota’s home city of Toyoda in central Japan. The website of the smaller company was inaccessible last night.
Like many manufacturers, Toyota has struggled with supply chain problems in the pandemic. Last month production was 15 per cent down year-on-year owing to lost production in China. Production in North America was affected by protests that disrupted the border between the United States and Canada. The company has cut its global output goal for the financial year from nine million vehicles to 8.5 million.