Toyota, Nissan Extend Thai Flood Production Halts

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Toyota, Nissan extend Thai flood production halts

TOKYO, November 4, 2011 (AFP) - Japanese automakers Toyota and Nissan on Friday said they had extended production suspensions at their factories in Thailand due to the impact of severe flooding on parts supply.

Japan's biggest automaker Toyota said in a statement that its three sites in Thailand, which have been suspended since October 10, would remain closed until at least November 12.

Nissan said it would halt production until at least November 14.

The impact of the deadly flooding in Thailand has come as Japan's automakers worked to recover from the March earthquake and tsunami disaster, which also crippled supply chains and hit global production.

Toyota said the Thai floods will mean continued production adjustments at plants in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam as well as Pakistan and Malaysia from November 7.

"A decision on production from November 14 onward will be made based on an assessment of the situation as it develops," Toyota said.

A company spokesman told AFP that the production halt would mean the loss of around 69,000 units, or just over 10 percent of Toyota's Thailand output, since the company suspended production at its three plants on October 10.

Toyota manufactured 630,000 vehicles in Thailand in 2010. The impact of the production adjustments in Japan is expected to affect around 22,000 units between October 24 and Friday, spokesman Dion Corbett added.

"The main issue is that the effect on suppliers is actually changing all the time so it's making it difficult for us to actually understand exactly which parts and from where have been affected at which times," Corbett told AFP.

"The first measure is actually getting a better understanding of exactly what is happening."

Toyota stopped production at its Samrong, Gateway and Ban Pho plants from October 10 as some suppliers were hit by Thailand's worst flooding in decades, causing delays in supplying parts.

The flooding has had no direct impact on the three Toyota plants, it said.

Rival automaker Nissan said production at its Thailand factory would remain halted until November 14. The plant has not been directly hit by the flooding either, but Nissan is also facing parts supply shortages.

Nissan said its production loss in Thailand was estimated at 40,000 units.

"Due to shortages in parts supply, production at the plant remains suspended, but Nissan is working to resume production of most models starting on November 14," it said in a statement.

It added that the flood-related supply problems had not affected production at Nissan facilities outside of Thailand, but added that it saw a risk of a 20,000 unit production loss in Japan.

Automaker Honda has also been hit, with one of its plants inundated and its production in Japan, the US, Canada and in several Asian countries affected.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-11-04