Toyota is temporarily suspending production of its most popular vehicle worldwide, the RAV4 SUV, due to an explosion that occurred inside the factory of one of its suppliers in Japan. The blast on March 6th resulted in one fatality.
Toyota’s supply chain has been disrupted by the explosion, forcing the automaker to halt production of the RAV4. A previous explosion at the same plant in 2023 had forced the Japanese manufacturer to stop 13 production lines within eight factories.
"Due to an explosion affecting certain equipment at our supplier's factory, we plan to interrupt our operations," said a spokesperson via communique.
Carmakers’ supply chains are complex but generally function well, but they can be fragile, as the pandemic laid bare.
Toyota will stop one of the two production lines at its Takaoka assembly plant, which manufactures the RAV4 and the Harrier, the model we recently knew here as the Venza. Two other lines in a Toyota factory will be temporarily stopped.
For the moment, the plan is to implement the stoppages at the beginning of next week. The duration is undetermined.
Obviously, because the popular RAV4 is involved, this could impact the delivery of vehicles destined for North America. The RAV4 is also produced in Canada, but some units sold here come from elsewhere.
Toyota said it’s too early to know the possible impact on exports to the United States or other regions, including Europe. It will reassess the situation on Monday, March 10, at noon.