AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/06 Report--

According to media reports, Toyota will resume normal production at some of its factories in China on March 9, as will its local factories that have stopped production due to the impact of parts supply.

It is understood that Toyota has four complete vehicle factories in China, which are located in Guangzhou, Changchun, Tianjin and Chengdu. These factories have stopped production since the outbreak in January and resumed production in mid-February, but production capacity has fallen sharply.

Toyota resumed production at its Guangzhou and Changchun plants on February 17, Tianjin on February 18 and Chengdu on February 24.

Toyota said that the two plants in Changchun and Chengdu would increase production capacity to the average level of a year ago by working round-the-clock shifts on March 9, while the plants in Guangzhou and Tianjin would continue to operate at low levels. All factories in Japan will resume normal production on March 9.

On Feb. 26, Toyota said that the epidemic had worsened around the world, and that Toyota's local factories could be affected by the Chinese parts supply chain as some domestic factories were still unable to resume production and transportation.

'We can still receive domestic parts supplies from China, but we will assess the situation after the week of March 2,'a Toyota spokesman said. The company said it would decide how to continue operations in Japan in the week of March 9 after maintaining normal capacity in the week of March 2.

The impact of the epidemic on the automobile industry is predictable, especially in China, which is the largest automobile market in the world. The Chinese market, Toyota's second largest car market in the world, is also the hardest hit by the epidemic, which has also dealt a big blow to Toyota's sales. Sales figures show that Toyota sold 145000 vehicles in China in January, up 1.2 per cent from a year earlier, while sales in China fell 70.2 per cent to 23800 in February.

In addition to Toyota, other Japanese carmakers, including Nissan, Honda, Mazda and Mitsubishi, have shut down or cut production because of parts supplies.

Nissan announced on Feb. 14 that it would close some of its production lines in Kyushu in southwestern Japan, while other factories in Japan also suspended production on Feb. 23. Its factories in Malaysia, the United States, Mexico, Spain, Russia and India have also stopped production. Nissan sold 118100 vehicles in January, down 11.8 per cent from a year earlier, according to sales data.

Honda previously announced that Dongfeng Honda would resume operations at its three major car plants in Wuhan on March 11 and resume production that week. In addition, Honda cut production at two factories in Saitama prefecture and Shirayama city due to the spare parts supply chain. According to the latest sales, Honda sold 149863 vehicles in China in January, up 9.8 per cent over the same period, and 11288 in February, down 14.9 per cent from a year earlier.

In addition, Mazda sold 20963 vehicles in China in January, down 8.23 per cent from a year earlier, and 2430 in February, down 78 per cent from a year earlier.

Goldman Sachs said the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak on car production and demand would reduce profits for Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi and Mazda by 170 billion yen ($1.6 billion). According to forecasts, the five carmakers will reduce their total production capacity by 580000 vehicles from January to April, of which Toyota plants will have capacity utilization of 94 per cent, Nissan plants will have capacity utilization of 47 per cent, and Honda plants will have capacity utilization rates of only 16 per cent.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat