The Czech unit of Japanese automaker Toyota said Friday it would suspend its production for another week following a fire at the factory of its plastic parts supplier.
The world’s top-selling carmaker halted production at its plant east of Prague on August 22, a week after the factory of local car-parts maker Novares was destroyed by fire.
“I can confirm the shutdown will be extended until next Friday, that is, September 15,” Tomas Paroubek, a spokesman for Toyota Motor Manufacturing Czech, told AFP.
He declined to comment on the impact on production at the car factory that normally produces around 1,000 Toyota Aygo and Yaris cars a day.
The country’s largest automaker, Skoda Auto, said Friday it was suspending a part of its production for at least a week because of a drop in supplies from a Slovenian company damaged by heavy flooding there.
An EU member of 10.5 million people, the Czech Republic is heavily dependent on car production and exports to fuel its economy, which has been hit hard by the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
It is home to three large car plants run by Volkswagen unit Skoda, Toyota, and South Korea’s Hyundai.
Last week, Toyota also had to suspend production at its 14 factories in Japan for a day over a technical glitch affecting its system processing orders for parts.
