Friday January 16, 11:38 PM
Toyota suspends domestic production: report
TOKYO (AFP) - Toyota Motor Corp (Frankfurt: 853510 - news) . temporarily suspended operations at 11 of its 12 domestic factories on Saturday in response to a slump in sales amid the deepening global economic turmoil, Kyodo News reported.
Toyota will stop operations at the factories for three days this month -- on Saturday and also on January 24 and January 30 -- in line with previously announced plans, said Kyodo.
In February and March, the carmaker will suspend operations at all 12 factories for 11 days, the report said.
The move underscores the rapidly deteriorating fortunes of Japan's auto giants, which have racked up bumper profits in recent years and invested heavily to expand their production facilities overseas.
Japan's top automaker last month forecast its first-ever annual operating loss, blaming "an unprecedented crisis" in the global auto industry.
The country's second-largest carmaker Honda on Friday said it was shedding more than 3,000 jobs and Subaru-maker Fuji Heavy warned of its first annual loss in 15 years.
Also Friday, Yamaha Motors said it would suspend production at 11 domestic plants for up to 10 days, while reports said Nissan planned to transfer production of subcompact cars from Japan to Thailand to reduce costs.
Japanese manufacturers have expanded rapidly in recent years to meet brisk demand for their smaller, fuel-efficient cars. But they have not been immune to the financial crisis, even if they are in better shape than their US rivals.
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