Toyota Shuts Down Japan Production Plants After Cyberattacks Hit Supplier

Toyota stated on Monday that it would shut down production at all of its domestic operations for one day due to reports that one of its suppliers had been hacked.

In a statement, the world's largest auto manufacturer announced that it will be suspending operations on all 28 lines of its 14 plants in Japan on Tuesday.

Toyota said local supplier Kojima Industries Corp., which produces a wide variety of plastic parts and electronics, experienced a "system failure."

An insider source close to the company told Japanese publication Nikkei that cyberattacks disrupted the parts supplier. This is the first time Toyota has had to shut down because of a supplier's system breakdown.

According to the source, some Toyota affiliates Hino Motors and Daihatsu facilities, would also be shut down on Tuesday.

The incident follows Japan's announcement on Sunday that it will join its partners in cutting Russia off from the SWIFT banking platform, imposing further sanctions, and delivering $100 million in humanitarian relief to Ukraine.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began on Thursday, governments and businesses have been on high alert for retaliatory cyberattacks.

Reporters asked Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida if the incident was related to the sanctions imposed on Russia on Monday evening. He responded that the government was still looking into it.

"It is difficult to answer unless you have confirmed it thoroughly," Prime Minister Kishida said per Jiji News Agency.

Because the automaker is still investigating the problem, a Toyota spokesperson said in a Wall Street Journal report that the company does not know whether the Japan factories will remain closed beyond Tuesday.

In February, Toyota and Lexus said that global production would total 8.5 million vehicles in the fiscal year ending March 2022, down from an estimate of nine million vehicles released in November.

Toyota manufactures nearly a third of its annual output in Japan.

When Covid-19 first caused a global shortage of semiconductors, an essential component of modern automobiles, Toyota appeared to be better positioned than its competitors to weather the storm.

TechExplore said the carmaker giant strengthened ties with domestic suppliers after Japan's earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

However, as the crisis shows no signs of abating, the manufacturer has found itself unable to escape its consequences.

Toyota admitted in February that customers must wait an extremely long period to acquire our products.