Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor, Japanese automotive giants have halted operations at several assembly plants across Malaysia because of the implementation of the movement control order to control the spread of coronavirus. Toyota has shut down two plants already and a representative has said that the decision as to when they will reopen will be made later on.
Production has been stopped by Honda at two factories. One factory produced vehicles with two wheels and the other factory produced vehicles with four wheels. The operations have been freezed till the Movement Control Order is lifted. January 26, 2021 is the date when it is due to be lifted. The national automaker Perodua, which is also backed by Japanese car company Daihatsu Motor has also discontinued its production January 14, 2021. It has sold more than 2,00,000 vehicles in 2020 and holded the top market share which was more than 40%.
In Malaysia 2019, Toyota manufactured more than 60,000 vehicles and Honda’s annual capacity is 1,00,000 vehicles with four wheels and 3,00,000 vehicles with two wheels.
The Movement Control Order has been announced for two weeks from January 13 to January 26 in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Melaka, Penang, Johor and Sabah by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. Six others have been placed under Conditional Movement Control Order which include Perak, Sembilan, Pahang, Negri, Terengganu, Kelantan and Kedah.
Initially auto assembly was included in the essential industries list but the exemption was pulled by the officials on the last minute. In South-East Asia, Malaysia is the third largest auto producer while Thailand is the first largest and Indonesia is the second largest auto producer.