TOKYO/BEIJING — Toyota Motor Corp. said on Friday that production at its plant in Guangzhou, China, would return to normal on Monday, after a month-long output suspension due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The Japanese automaker’s plant in southeast China will resume its second shift, returning to production levels from before the outbreak accelerated last month. The plant, which produces the Camry sedan and the Yaris compact hatchback models, resumed its first shift earlier this month.
Operations at two other Toyota plants, in Changchun, Jilin Province, and Chengdu, Sichuan Province, have also returned to normal, while its plant in Tianjin is only operating a single shift, compared with double shifts at the start of the year.
Global automakers continue to grapple with production in China due to logistical delays and limited workforces as the country’s manufacturing sector slowly recovers from coronavirus-related stoppages, which have disrupted the global supply chain.
Chinese vice industry minister Xin Guobin said on Friday that auto parts makers in Hubei province are resuming production in an orderly manner, as the region struck hardest by the epidemic seeks to restart economic activity.
Xin told reporters at a press briefing that China’s industry ministry will monitor the situation for the auto parts suppliers in Hubei and ensure that the global supply chain is stable.