Toyota factory burnt down, Alphard and Land Cruiser car production in Japan paralyzed

Tribunnews.com Journalist Report Namira Yunia Lestanti

TRIBUNNEWS.COM, TOKYO – Two Toyota car assembly plants in Japan were forced to suspend all vehicle production after the Chuo Spring warehouse, which supplies parts for engine springs and valves for Toyota vehicles, was hit by a major fire.

In an official statement, a Toyota spokesperson said the fire started to engulf the Chuo Spring warehouse located in Fujioka at around 12.15 noon local time, Monday (16/10/2023).

“An explosion sparked a fire in a building in Chuo Spring, Fujioka which caused the stock of engine springs and valves used in Toyota vehicles to catch fire,” explained a Toyota spokesperson, quoted by Channel News Asia.

The cause of this fire is not yet known, however, after the fire was successfully extinguished, local security confirmed that there were no casualties in the incident.

However, due to the fire that occurred at the Chuo Spring warehouse, two car assembly factories, namely Toyota Auto Body and Toyota Industri, are threatened with stopping operations.

Thousands of minivans such as the Alphard and several Land Cruiser models for overseas markets experienced production delays this month.

Previously, in mid-August, Toyota suspended operations at its 14 vehicle assembly plants in Japan due to a computer system failure.

Also read: Toyota Factory in Fukuoka Hit by Extreme Weather, Night Shift Work is Abolished

Even though a series of problems continue to hit the Toyota factory, over the last few months Toyota Motor Corp has managed to record a 78 percent jump in profits to 9 billion US dollars.

Toyota achieved this profit thanks to sales of 2.3 million hybrid vehicles from April to June 2023.

Sales of electric vehicles (electric vehicles or EVs) also recorded a spike of 29,000 units.

Also read: Employees Infected with Corona, Several Japanese Toyota Factories Closed, 47,000 Units Short of Production

This number is inversely proportional to Toyota’s sales at the end of 2022, at which time Toyota’s production experienced a decline in profits due to the global shortage of semiconductor chips and a spare parts supply crisis in the automotive industry.