Feb 28, 2022 - Economy

Toyota halts production in Japan after suspected cyberattack

Joann Muller

A vehicle drives past the Toyota Motor Corp's Motomachi plant in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. — 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.

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Toyota halts production in Japan after suspected cyberattack

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