Toyota reveals why it suspended all assembly plants in Japan

The company says an undetected system malfunction has prevented it from processing orders for components

Japanese auto giant Toyota has announced it will resume operations at domestic assembly plants on Wednesday after a 24-hour stoppage caused by a system glitch. The company continues to investigate the cause of the disruption, which began on Monday and prevented Toyota from processing orders for components.

Production is expected to return to normal at each of its 14 plants in Japan from the start of the second shift on Wednesday, the company said. The plants together account for about a third of the automaker’s global production, according to Reuters calculations. Toyota delivered almost 10.5 million cars worldwide last year.

“It is our understanding that the malfunction of the system was not caused by a cyberattack. However, we will continue to investigate the cause,” Toyota stated. “We would like to apologize once again to our customers, suppliers, and related parties for any inconvenience caused by the suspension of operations.” 

Toyota’s operations were suspended for a day in 2022 when a supplier was hit with a cyberattack, causing problems with ordering parts. The car giant then resumed operations using a back-up network.

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