Toyota to halt production in Japan for one week

Japanese automobile giant Toyota on Monday announced it will suspend production in all its domestic assembly plants in the country for one week, after an explosion at a steel factory created a shortage of car parts.

The company said it will stop operations from February 8 to 13 in 12 plants nationwide, also affecting the production lines of subsidiary brands including Hino, Daihatsu and Lexus, a company spokesperson told EFE news agency.

The Japanese car manufacturer revealed that an explosion had occurred on January 8 at its subsidiary plant, Aichi Steel, affecting the production of steel parts and forcing the automative manufacturer to temporarily shut operations.

Meanwhile, "operations are scheduled to recommence on February 15, and vehicle production on lines outside Japan will not be suspended," the world's leading car-maker, which on an average produces between 13,000 to 14,000 cars a day in Japan, said in a statement.

"Toyota will continue to take any measures necessary to minimise the impact of this incident on vehicle production. Such measures may include production on alternate lines operated by Aichi Steel and procurement from other steelmakers," the statement added.