Subaru Pauses Japanese Production Following Typhoon Flooding

Subaru will suspend its production in Japan for roughly a week due to flooding from a massive typhoon that lashed the country recently.

Auto News reports that Subaru paused production at its Gumma plant following the morning shift on Wednesday and expects the facility to be closed until around October 25.

While the factory will be closed for a week, Subaru will only actually lose about four and a half days of output because no work is scheduled for the weekend or the following Monday and Tuesday due to the enthronement ceremonies for Japan’s new emperor. The Gumma site builds roughly 2,500 vehicles daily, meaning the company will fall behind by 11,250 at the most.

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“There have been some cases of damage including inundation at some of our suppliers (both direct and indirect),” Subaru said in a press release. “These suppliers are currently working to normalize their operations with our human and material support as well, but we expect some impairment of their supply of automotive components and parts to Subaru.”

The Japanese car manufacturer later confirmed that one of its major suppliers involved in metal stamping experienced flooding.

Typhoon Hagibis hit eastern Japan on October 12 and killed at least 77 people, while also cutting power to hundreds of thousands of residents. Other carmakers like Toyota and Mitsubishi are also feeling the pinch and monitoring their flow of parts supplies. In addition, audio supplier Alps Alpine and Panasonic have experienced flooding, which might have a ripple effect on automotive supply lines.