WASHINGTON – Toyota said Monday that it has yet to resume production at its three production lines in Ontario even after a key bridge between the US and Canada reopened.
The Japanese automaker’s factories in Ontario, where it builds its best-selling product RAV4 sport utility vehicle, has been out of production since Thursday because of parts shortages stemming from border disruptions following a protest by Canadian truckers.
Toyota said it expects “related disruptions to continue this week” in Ontario. Toyota also said its plants in West Virginia, Kentucky and Alabama were still facing production impacts on Monday.
Police in Windsor late Sunday opened the Ambassador Bridge, an important trade route to Detroit, peacefully two days after the province of Ontario declared a state of emergency and the city received a court order to end the demonstration.
Synthetic engine and Ford, both of which reported production disruptions due to a bridge blockade last week, said factories were still operating as normal on Monday. Ford said last week that a factory in Ohio that was forced to halt production on Friday would close this week because of separate supply chain issues — a shortage of semiconductor chips.
According to IHS Markit data, the estimated damage to date from the blockades to the auto industry could be as high as $850 million.
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