Toyota statements on the earthquake and tsunami aftermath

Kaizen Factor has learned of a couple of official statements from Toyota regarding the tragic earthquakes and tsunami afflicting Japan. The first of these comes to us from Toyota spokesperson Dion Corbett via an article from The Truth About Cars‘ Japan-based correspondent Bertel Schmitt and reads as follows:

TMC has established a company-wide emergency task force to take initial measures.

1. Employees
– Confirmed there have been no injuries at the Tokyo head office, as well as the Higashifuji, Tochigi office, Yamanashi office, and Toyota Motor Tohoku facilities.
– Presently gathering information on Central Motor Corporation and Kanto Auto Works.

2. Production
– All TMC plants have restarted production.
– The employees at manufacturing companies in the Tohoku region, including Toyota Motor Tohoku and Central Motor Corporation, are evacuating to safe areas. The situation is the same in the facilities in Hokkaido as well.
– Currently, we are checking the situation of suppliers.
– Currently nothing has been decided about production plans.

3. Dealers
-There are reports that some dealers have been damaged, however we are still investigating the details.

The above assertion that “All TMC plants have restarted production” may seem odd in the face of reports in our previous story of closed and potentially damaged plants. Bear in mind, though, that the two vehicle-producing plants in question (Central Motor Company and Kanto Auto Works) are considered to be Toyota subsidiary plants, as opposed to full-fledged TMC plants closer to Toyota City such as the Tahara and Kyushu plants that build a number of Lexus models.

Meanwhile, the Toyota USA Newsroom issued the following statement:

Currently, Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has established a company-wide emergency task force to assess the situation and take initial measures.

As of now, Toyota has confirmed that there have been no injuries at the Tokyo head office, as well as the Higashifuji, Tochigi office, Yamanashi office, and Toyota Motor Tohoku facilities.

We are presently gathering information on Central Motor Corporation and Kanto Auto Works.

All TMC plants have restarted production.

The plants that have stopped production are Toyota subsidiary plants, including:
•Toyota Motor Hokkaido Plant
•Toyota Motor Tohoku Plant
•Central Motor Corporation Miyagi Plant
•Kanto Auto Works Iwate Plant
Employees at these facilities have been evacuated to safe areas.

We are also currently assessing the situation at our suppliers, dealers and the impact on North American import vehicles.

Toyota’s number one priority is to support our employees at TMC, our partner companies, suppliers and dealers through this situation. We will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available.