Toyota Halts Works at Japan Factories After Reported Cyberattack

Japanese automaker Toyota said Monday it was halting operations at all its domestic plants for a day after a reported cyberattack on a parts supplier.

"Due to a system failure at a supplier in Japan, we have decided to suspend the operation of 28 lines at all 14 domestic plants on March 1 (for both 1st and 2nd shift)," the world's top-selling automaker said in a statement.

The Nikkei newspaper reported that the decision came after a suspected cyberattack hit a parts manufacturer supplying Toyota, but a spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.

She told AFP that the stoppage, which for now will last a day with the situation to be assessed again Tuesday, would affect production of 13,000 vehicles.

Toyota has already been forced to adjust production goals because of pandemic-related supply chain issues and the global chip crisis.

In other Toyota-related news, the company said it is now working with Japan's space agency on a vehicle to explore the lunar surface, with ambitions to help people live on the Moon by 2040 and then go live on Mars.

The vehicle being developed with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is called Lunar Cruiser, whose name pays homage to the Toyota Land Cruiser sport utility vehicle. Its launch is set for the late 2020s.

The vehicle is based on the idea that people eat, work, sleep, and communicate with others safely in cars, and the same can be done in outer space, said Takao Sato, who heads the Lunar Cruiser project at Toyota Motor.

“We see space as an area for our once-in-a-century transformation. By going to space, we may be able to develop telecommunications and other technology that will prove valuable to human life,” Sato said.