Toyota begins preparations to re-start manufacturing operations

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) on Tuesday said it has commenced preparations to resume manufacturing activity but added that it would only be helpful if the entire value chain, including dealerships, restart operations.

Basis the latest directive issued by the government, the company has decided to initiate restart of some preparatory operations at the plant beginning May 5, TKM Senior Vice President (Sales and Marketing) Naveen Soni said in a statement.

The preparatory operations are conducted to provide workforce with an adequately safe environment to work in, duly prioritising domains like spare parts supply as that is an important requirement from the markets where certain customer service activity has already started, he added.

The first few days will be spent on training workforce on the new guidelines as well as ensuring safe materials and working environment, Soni said.

"Hence, operations at our plant will resume in a phased manner, most importantly keeping in mind the needs of social distancing and sanitisation," he added.

Soni, however, added that for the auto sector to start production, it is necessary that entire value chain starts operating.

"Our value chain consists not only of our suppliers but our dealers as well who are based in different parts of the country including cities that are still under severe lockdown," he noted.

TKM has already come out with a detailed restart manual after receiving inputs from various stake holders, including government agencies.

The company, which sells models like Fortuner and Innova, had suspended production at its Bidadi (Karnataka) plant since March 23 due to coronavirus-led nationwide lockdown.