Toyota halts production in Japan after suspected cyberattack
- Joann Muller, author of Axios What's Next
A vehicle drives past the Toyota's Motomachi plant in Japan. Photo: Akio Kon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Toyota is halting production at all 14 of its factories in Japan after a key supplier was hit by a suspected cyberattack.
Why it matters: The apparent attack occurred a day after Japan joined U.S. and European allies in blocking some Russian banks from accessing the SWIFT international payment system, but it was not clear whether the incident was related.
- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said officials would investigate to determine whether Russia was involved, Reuters reported.
Details: Kojima Industries Corp said it appeared to have been the victim of some kind of cyberattack, which Toyota described as a "supplier system failure."
- It was unclear how long the Japanese factories, which account for about one-third of Toyota's global production, would remain closed.
- A spokesperson for Toyota's North American operations told Axios the disruption, assuming it is temporary, was unlikely to affect vehicle supplies on U.S. dealer lots.
The big picture: The shutdown is the latest manufacturing headache for the world's largest automaker, which, like the rest of the industry, is facing pandemic-related supply chain disruptions.
- Toyota's North American factories were also hit recently by parts shortages caused by the Canadian trucker protests.