–with reports from Reuters
Plant operations of Toyota Motor Corp. in the Philippines will be be closed temporarily through mid-April amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the country.
The Luzon-wide lockdown had led to commuting restrictions, leaving companies bracing for supply chain disruption and limiting movement of workers.
Rommel Gutierrez, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. senior vic president, said non-production members are following a work-from-home scheme.
Gutierrez did disclose the number of workers affected but the Sta. Rosa, Laguna facility produces two leading models, the Innova and the Vios.
In 2019, the facility produced 54,028 units.
A Reuters report from Tokyo said Toyota Motor will close its plant in Malaysia from next Monday through the end of March.
Toyota had stopped operations at plants in Britain and Poland from Wednesday, while its Czech site would be halted on Thursday. Operations at its Turkey site would be suspended from Saturday.
Toyota and other Japanese automakers on Wednesday said they are temporarily closing more vehicle plants in Europe and Asia.
A growing number of global automakers have been shuttering plants in Europe and beyond as the COVID-19 outbreak prompts countries to instruct non-essential businesses to suspend operations.
Nissan Motor Co said it had stopped output at its two plants in Spain and its plant in Britain, while Honda Motor Co said it was temporarily closing all its dealerships in Italy, which is experiencing big daily increases in virus infections.
Earlier on Wednesday, Volkswagen AG, which said it would suspend production at its European plants for 10 days, warned that the spreading virus would disrupt its supply chain.
Toyota, Nissan, and Honda all said that operations in North America, one of their biggest production bases, remained in operation at the moment even as governments in the United States and Canada have been implementing more movement restrictions to curb an increase in virus infections.
