AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)04/26 Report--

As of 12:00 local time on April 26th, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Japan reached 13238. In order to avoid the spread of the epidemic, Japan has introduced policies in many places since it entered a state of emergency on April 7, requiring non-essential industries to suspend business and calling on people to go out less.

According to the Nippon Keizai Shimbun, as 1/4 of Toyota's local car production is exported to the North American market, where the epidemic is getting worse, Toyota plans to cut production at its Japanese plants by 50% in May and 40% in June, a measure that will affect Toyota's 18 factories and dozens of suppliers in Japan.

Affected by the epidemic, Toyota's North American plant began to close in mid-March and will remain closed until at least May 1. Toyota North America reported that Toyota's US sales fell 8.8 per cent to 495700 vehicles in the first quarter, with Toyota brand sales falling 35.3 per cent in March and Lexus 46.7 per cent in March.

Toyota has already cut production at some local factories. Toyota halted production of seven production lines at five factories in Japan, including Aichi Prefecture and Fukuoka Prefecture, including Toyota City Takaoka, Tsutsumi, Takahara and Miyagi in Kyushu, as well as a Hamura plant run by Hino truck. Toyota's Japanese plant production cuts will involve Toyota Prius, 4Runner and other models, some Lexus models will also be affected, production and sales will be reduced to a certain extent.

It is understood that Toyota produced a total of 314 vehicles at 18 factories in Japan in 2019. Before the outbreak, Toyota plans to produce about 324 new cars in 2020. Toyota has halted some production lines at its Japanese plants in March and April, while production at Toyota's Japanese plants will be cut further in May and June, which may lead to an annual output of 3 million vehicles. Toyota's annual production of 3 million vehicles is Toyota's "red line", and once it falls below the red line, Toyota will have to consider layoffs.

Most of Toyota's factories around the world have been urgently closed due to the suspension of production and sales activities as the epidemic has spread, but with the gradual easing of the global epidemic, Toyota plants around the world are resuming production in an orderly manner. Among them, the Chinese factory fully resumed production on March 30, the French factory resumed some production from April 22, the British, Czech and Turkish factories are expected to resume operation on May 4, and the Russian plant will resume production on May 6. Toyota's 14 North American plants will also gradually resume work from May 4.

Toyota's cumulative global sales in 2019 were 10.7421 million vehicles, up 1.4% from the previous year, ranking second in the world after Volkswagen's 10.9746 million vehicles. Among them, 1.62 million vehicles were sold in China, up 9% from the same period last year, making it one of the few car brands in China to defy the trend.

At present, the epidemic in Europe has eased somewhat, while North America is still in a state of outbreak, even if it is planned to return to work in early May. In view of the risk of expansion of the epidemic, Toyota plant shutdowns and layoffs are frequent, and capacity and sales in 2020 are full of variables.

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