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Toyota to suspend 18 assembly lines as production restarts post-quake

TOKYO - Japanese manufacturers began restarting production at plants in the country's quake-hit northeast, but Toyota Motor Corp said it plans to idle 18 assembly lines for a few days next week due to a shortage of parts from suppliers. It had suspended operations at three factories due to the quake and sees lost production of 20,000 units due to the stoppages. Toyota has already cut its global production target due to the ongoing chip shortage. The suspension will cut heavily into Toyota's domestic production. Impacted product lines include the Toyota RAV4, Land Cruiser, Harrier and Yaris and virtually every Lexus. Toyota did not say whether these shutdowns could extend to U.S.-based production lines, but the possibility exists if they receive parts from the same suppliers.  On one hand, the limited damage caused by the magnitude 7.4 temblor has highlighted Japan's success in building resilience against the frequent tremors that shake the archipelago. But the quake has sparked concerns of further disruptions to a pandemic-hit supply chain for precision components vital to electronics and autos production and in which Japanese manufacturers play a leading role. Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd, the top global supplier of ceramic capacitors used in smartphones and cars, said it restarted production on Friday at two stopped plants with the remaining two idled plants to restart next week. A fire that broke out at a factory which produces chip inductors caused some damage to equipment. Renesas Electronics Corp, which makes nearly a third of the microcontroller chips used in cars globally, said it has restarted production after stopping it at two factories with a partial stop at a third. All three factories, including the Naka factory where fire broke out last year, are expected to return to pre-quake capacity by Wednesday, Renesas said. Power has mostly been restored across the northeast, which suffered Japan's biggest earthquake 11 years ago. Areas of Tokyo lost power for nearly three hours after the latest quake, in which three people died and 183 were injured. The blackout has forced the disposal of some COVID-19 vaccines held in cool storage, the Yomiuri newspaper reported. Tech conglomerate Sony Group Corp is in the process of gradually restarting production at three factories in the quake-hit area, a spokesperson said.

Toyota restructuring US operations, possibly moving to Texas

According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, Toyota is poised to announce Monday that it is restructuring its US operations, which may include plans to relocate some of its operations to Texas. Toyota Motor Sales has been located in California since 1957, and is responsible for North American sales, marketing, and distribution for Toyota, Lexus and Scion. According to Toyota literature, its Torrance operations presently employs 6,156 workers and represents a $2.3-billion investment.
Workers in Toyota's Torrance offices were abuzz about the possible relocation to Texas. One young offspring of a Toyota employee even posted to Twitter that her parents warned about the upcoming move, and she said she's refusing to go.
Rumors at one point had Toyota settling in Richardson, TX, just outside Plano. But Autoblog talked to Richardson Mayor Laura Maczka, who said she would be thrilled if that were true, but has not heard anything on the subject. Autoblog also emailed with Bill Sutherland, a city councilman in Torrance, CA, who said, "To date the only info I have is what I have read in the paper expecting a press release Monday."

Toyota Camry lineup gets interior and tech updates one year in

When it debuted last year, the Toyota Camry came in for some criticism over its interior, most centered on material choices - both in quality (not enough) and variety (too much). Thus, Toyota has responded after just one model year, updating both materials and features on its gas-powered and hybrid family sedans for 2013.
The LE version appeared to get the lion's share of the improvements. Specifically, the LE is getting "soft-touch" door materials as well as armrests that match the rest of the interior color (instead of being black). The LE model also gets Toyota's six-inch display screen that helps folks get a better gander at the car's energy usage and fuel economy, among other things. Other changes include adding cross-traffic alert for models equipped with blind spot monitoring
Toyota introduced its latest version of the Camry and Camry Hybrid in the fall of 2011 as a 2012 model. Sales have been solid, and in particular, the Camry Hybrid has improved its fortunes, bumping its US sales almost fivefold to more than 45,000 units. So far in 2013, the latter has carried over much of that momentum, boosting January 2013 sales from a year earlier by 81 percent to 3,826 units.