Toyota Has Extended the Closure of its Plants in China

Japan's automotive giant Toyota said today it would extend the suspension of its Chinese factories by one week until February 16 because of the country's coronavirus epidemic crisis.

"After considering various factors including guidelines from local and regional governments... we've decided to continue our suspension of production at all Toyota plants in China until February 16," spokesman Aaron Fowles told AFP.

The Japanese company earlier said the plants would be closed until February 9th.

So far, the coronavirus has claimed more than 630 lives, mainly in China, but has also spread to several other countries, causing chaos in global supply chains.

Fowles said Toyota would make further decisions on whether to extend the suspension depending on the developing virus situation. "As for production in other countries we are currently investigating if there will be any impact," he added.