Yesterday, Toyota announced that it would temporarily shut down 28 production lines across 14 of its plants in Japan, effective today, March 1, 2022.
For now, the shutdown is only scheduled for the first and second shifts today, but Reuters reports that Toyota does not yet know if it will be a one-day or multi-day shutdown.
The move comes in response to what Toyota describes as a system failure at one of its suppliers, Kojima Industries, which produces a wide range of parts for the auto giant’s vehicles, including interior, exterior and mechanical components.
What's incredible about this is that the company believes it was caused by a cyber attack. At least that's what a Kojima Industries representative confirmed to Reuters. Neither Toyota nor Kojima has made any statement regarding the identity of the perpetrator or perpetrators of the attack. Reuters also reports that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kushida has announced that his administration will investigate the matter, as well as the possibility that Russia was involved.
Over the past week, Japan, like many other countries, has imposed sanctions against Russia after it invaded Ukraine. And Russia's capacity for cyber attacking is real, as confirmed just days ago by Sergei Zhirnov, a former KGB spy who knows Vladimir Putin and the country's capabilities very well, during an appearance on a television program in France.
According to Reuters, the production line shutdowns Toyota is being forced into will result in the loss of production of 13,000 vehicles.