Toyota and Nissan are suspending production at NAFTA plants for several days this month because of a shortage parts from earthquake-hit Japan.
Production will be suspended on 15, 18, 21, 22, and 25 April at Toyota’s Georgetown plant in Kentucky, which will remain open on the 21st.
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The company said future production plans would be decided later. It had earlier warned that the slowdown was inevitable after damaged caused by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Steve St. Angelo, head of Toyota’s North America division, said: “The situation in Japan affects many automakers and many other industries. Extraordinary efforts are under way to help suppliers recover. We are slowing down to conserve parts yet maintain production as much as possible.”
Toyota added that its 25,000-strong North American workforce may report to work for training and plant improvement activities, use holiday, or take unpaid time off.
About 85% of the parts and materials for the 12 North American-built Toyota and Lexus models are sourced from 500 suppliers in the US.
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By GlobalDataGeneral Motors and Chrysler have also announced cutbacks because of a short fall in supply from Japan while Nissan said it plans to close its two assembly plants in Mexico for up to two weeks.
Production at Aguascalientes will halt from 11-26 April while the plant in Cuernavaca would stop work between 18-24 April.
The reductions will mean 12,500 fewer vehicles produced, the company said, adding that it hopes to make up the shortfall later in the year. About 8% of the parts used in Mexico come from Japan.
