Toyota cuts production by 30%

Toyota Motor Vietnam (TMV) has announced that it will reduce production by 30% at its factory in the northern province of Vinh Phuc.

Due to the shortage of parts supply caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last month, which has also affected other Toyota units in Asia and Oceania, TMV has to rearrange its production operation and reduce its plant production.

TMV, the leading automaker in Vietnam, mainly imports car engines from Japan.

The period for production reduction is temporarily set from now until June 3 according to the company and TMV's production plan will also be revised.

On top of that, TMV's vehicle supply to its customers will be slashed accordingly which will lead to longer delivery delays for current customers.

The company said there were more than 3,600 customers who are waiting to receive their ordered cars, including Camry, Innova, Fortuner, Vios and Altis.

Despite the reduction in production levels, the good news for all employees at TMV is that they will still come to work as normal. TMV will utilize the non-production time for plant improvement activities and training for all its employees.

This is a necessary response to the shortage of parts supply issue as well as to maintain production and employment, TMV said.

"TMV will continue to evaluate the parts-supply ability and make an appropriate production plan to resume normal vehicle production as quickly as possible," TMV president Akito Tachibana said.

He added: "Moreover, TMV will endeavor to ensure the optimum stock management to reduce the impact on our customers and the delivery delay by the production reduction."