Toyota officially confirmed late today that is suspending production once again at two U.S. plants to trim growing inventory levels because of slow sales.
Press reports earlier today coming out of Japan claimed that Toyota was preparing to shut plants in the U.S. once again due to a continuing slump in sales. Toyota in the U.S. did not respond to requests from TheDetroitBureau.com at that time for clarification.
This latest hiatus follows the shut down by Toyota – at the insistence of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — of six North American plants for one week in January. The production halt then was in conjunction with a stop sale following the recall of 2.3 million Toyota vehicles for sticking gas pedals leading to unintended acceleration on at least eight models.
NHTSA, itself under attack for its lack of action in unintended acceleration or gas pedal entrapment issues at Toyota, now has reports of 37 deaths, which allegedly were caused by Toyota safety defects.
Globally, Toyota has now recalled more than eight million vehicles involved in gas pedal entrapment, sticking gas pedals and defective brakes or steering matters.
NHTSA announced earlier today it is legally requesting documents from Toyota to determine if the automaker conducted three of its recent recalls of about six million vehicles in a timely manner. (Click here for that investigation.) Federal law requires all auto manufacturers to notify NHTSA within five days of determining that a safety defect exists and promptly conduct a recall.
Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky plant will suspend production on February 26 for one day and conduct employee training, presumably for quality control procedures. Three additional days in March-April are possible, the beleaguered Japanese company said in a statement.
The San Antonia Texas plant will suspend production the weeks of March 15 and April 12. The Texas plant remains on schedule to begin its second shift on March 1 to add Tacoma to the production line in late June or early July after Toyota closes its NUMMI plant in California, which remains its largest market.
When production is suspended, team members will participate in training and plant improvement activities, Toyota said. They may also choose to use vacation or take unpaid time off.
About 2,000 workers are employed at the Texas plant, and 6,600 in Georgetown.