Toyota suspends operations at Japan plants due to snow

TOKYO: Toyota Motor said Monday it would temporarily suspend operations at its key plants in Japan later in the day due to heavy snowfall, adding that it expected little impact on production.

The firm plans to suspend operations at its 12 factories in Aichi prefecture, central Japan, from around 4:00 pm (0700 GMT) as heavy snowfall is expected to disrupt auto parts delivery as well workers commuting there.

"We will resume operations by Tuesday morning," said Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco, adding that the world's top automaker plans to make up for the expected delay in production by adding extra working hours later.

The Japan meteorological agency has warned of heavy snowfall across a wide area of the country, which has already caused transport disruptions including a delay in "Shinkansen" bullet train operations in central Japan.