Toyota Motor on Monday (21 November) restarted production at three factories on the outskirts of Bangkok after halting their operations since October due to supply chain disruptions caused by flooding, Toyota officials said.
Toyota resumed partial operations at the factories in Samrong, Gateway and Ban Pho as its prospects of obtaining necessary parts have improved, the officials told Kyodo News.
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At the Samrong factory in the province of Samut Prakan, employees came to work by bus or other means of transport starting at around 6 am.
A male worker, whose home was flooded, said, ”I departed from home at 4am, coming here by various means of transport including a boat. Although coming here was tough, I’m rejoicing at returning to my place of employment.”
Toyota’s Thai factories manufacture about 10 models, including pickups and passenger cars sold widely mainly throughout ASEAN, Asia-Pacific, Australasian and Japanese markets. In 2010, they produced a combined 630,000 units.
Although the three factories were not directly flooded, they had suspended production since 10 October as flooding affected many of their parts suppliers.
Toyota will decide how sharply it will raise factory utilisation ratios at the three locations while examining whether the parts supplies can be fully normalised, the officials said.
Nissan Motor, Mitsubishi Motors, Mazda Motor and Toyota affiliate Hino Motors have already restarted manufacturing in Thailand.
