A shortage of auto parts, including that of semiconductor chips for cars, has forced the Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp to stop production of vehicles since earlier this week at three of its manufacturing plants in Thailand, said the Japanese auto major Thursday.

The auto company said in a statement that vehicle production at its Ban Pho Plant was temporarily suspended by Toyota Motors Thailand on Tuesday while production at its Samrong and Gateway Plants was suspended temporarily on Wednesday.

According to the website of Toyota, the total installed production capacity of Toyota in Thailand is about 550,000 vehicles per year.

“The production operation for the next week will be determined at a later stage,” said the statement. The company however had also said in the statement that the current suspension was slated to be in effect until Friday this week.

In a separate statement, the company said that a shortage of parts caused by the pandemic is the cause of the temporary closure of its factories in Thailand.

The automaker also said on Thursday that the company is also announced temporary suspension of production at a Toyota factory in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture on July 29 to 30 and August 2 to 4 due to an acute shortage of the auto parts.

The suspensions in Thailand were first reported by Nikkei Asia earlier on Thursday.

Concerns for Thailand’s export sector have been raised by a series of outbreaks of coronavirus clusters among Thai factories in June.

The fourth largest auto assembly and export hub, Thailand is the place where the largest of the global automakers such as Honda and China’s Great Wall Motor assemble their vehicles. About 10 per cent of the gross domestic product of Thailand and the manufacturing jobs of the country is accounted for by the auto industry of the country.

Even while Thailand attempts to restart its pandemic hit tourism sector, the auto sector of the country has been a bright spot for the country’s economy. There is also a rebound in the domestic car sales in the country which rose by 15 per cent in June compared to the same period a year ago.

On Thursday, a record 13,655 coronavirus infections and 87 deaths were reported by Thailand on Thursday which forced the Southeast Asian country to tighten its travel restrictions to curb the latest outbreak. More than 93 per cent of the total 453,132 confirmed infections and 3,697 fatalities occurred after April this year.

(Adapted from KyodoNews.com)