JAKARTA — Toyota Motor will temporarily shut down production in Indonesia, Nikkei learned Thursday, with the government ordering a partial lockdown in the capital to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Toyota will halt operations from Monday through April 17. Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu Motor is to suspend production for eight days starting Friday.
Toyota’s annual output capacity in the country totals 250,000 vehicles, and Daihatsu is capable of turning out 530,000 units. With Japanese automakers in the region taking similar action, the bulk of their Southeast Asian production will be suspended.
Jakarta’s special capital region, a provincial-level area, will enforce stronger mobility restrictions for two weeks starting Friday. Public transport services will operate on shorter hours and at limited passenger capacity, and gatherings of more than five people will be banned.
Toyota and Daihatsu determined that the measures will negatively affect logistics and limit movement. The Toyota group has already cut production due to the precipitous drop in demand amid the pandemic. The automakers are the top two sellers in the country.
Honda Motor will halt Indonesian production from Monday through April 24. Mitsubishi Motors has reduced output as well.
Japanese automakers have decided to slash production in Thailand, their biggest manufacturing center in Southeast Asia, to almost zero for this month. Indonesia is the second-biggest market in the region in terms of production.