AsiaOne (Bandar Seri Begawan) - NBT (B) Sdn Bhd have announced that until further notice, business will resume as normal, despite Toyota Bangkok's plans to slash production at its plants in Thailand.
Recently, Toyota Bangkok announced the plans to cut down production, in light of last month's Japan tsunami and earthquake, because of the storage of parts that come from Japan.
Production at three plants will be suspended on Mondays and Fridays between April 25 and June 4, while the facilities will operate at half capacity from Tuesdays through Thursdays, Toyota's local unit said in a statement.
The company said it would conduct training for its workers during the stoppage time, stated global reports.
Aaron Wong, marketing manager of NBT (B) said, "It is still to early to comment, however once we have word on how Brunei will be affected, we will let the public know." He added that the industry giant has yet to receive word from Toyota and from the factories in Thailand, but business will resume as normal.
At the end of March, the Associated Press quoted Citigroup stating Thailand will be hit hardest by Japan's crippled supply chains because Thai automobile manufacturers, which play a significant role in Southeast Asia's second biggest economy, buy nearly two-thirds of all imported motor vehicle parts and accessories from Japan.
At the time, local dealers of Toyota, Honda, Mazda and Nissan have all assured that they too have no issues or delays in shipment.
A Reuters report in March quoting an unknown source stated that Toyota Motor Corp has told its main suppliers not to expect a restart of production in Japan until at least April 11.
"All vehicle assembly has been halted at the 18 domestic factories that build Toyota and Lexus cars except for two plants that are producing a limited number of three hybrid models, including the Prius," the report added.
A Toyota spokesman said he was not aware of the communication made to suppliers, but added that the supply of as many as 500 parts has been disrupted by the earthquake, repeating the company's stance that it would take time to resume full production.
By the end of this month, Toyota said it will have produced 500,000 fewer vehicles globally than it had initially planned, with 400,000 units of that in Japan.
