As the impact of Thailand's worst flooding in decades prompted supply shortage fears, Toyota Motor on Oct. 27 called off weekend production at four North American plants.
Japan's biggest automaker said it had not decided on whether to resume production next week.
"Flooding in Thailand has caused some interruption in production for a number of Toyota suppliers in that region," the company said.
It said it will suspend production on Oct. 29 at its vehicle manufacturing facilities in Indiana, Kentucky, Ontario, Canada and its engine manufacturing facility in West Virginia "as a means of conserving affected parts."
The automaker had planned overtime production at those plants on Oct. 29 as it looks to continue making up for lost output as a result of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami on March 11 in Japan that disrupted supply chains.
Toyota's North American output fully recovered from that only in September.
"We still do not know about production from (Monday) October 31 ... as we have to watch the situation there," company spokeswoman Amiko Tomita said.
Toyota has already suspended its Thai plants and has been curbing production in Japan as the Southeast Asian nation was hit by its worst flooding in decades.
Thai authorities urged residents in flood-prone areas of Bangkok to evacuate Oct. 26, warning them that the arrival of a massive deluge of water was imminent.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2011
