Supply of Kiwi-favoured model has been affected, but barely.

EXPECTATION from Toyota New Zealand is that supply of its best selling RAV4 will be minimally affected by an industrial accident in Japan that closed down a core component supplier.

Toyota New Zealand has acknowledged it is among distributors that have been advised to expect a degree of supply constraint for the model, New Zealand’s top-selling passenger choice in 2024.

However, a spokesperson for the Palmerston North distributor has indicated the impact is slight and should be reconciled any end of this month.

“There will a small impact on supply in the short term as is expected as a result of this (incident) and is expected to fully recover over the quarter.

“We currently have available stock on the ground, ready to deliver to customers so we don’t foresee this having an impact on deliveries for customers or wait times.”

The disruption arises as result of a fatal explosion on March 5 at a subsidiary factory in Toyota City, Japan, which produces springs for vehicle suspensions.

This snarled Toyota’s just-in-time supply chain, suspending the supply of components to three assembly lines at two assembly plants which produces the RAV4.

Production has since resumed after an investigation into the incident, which took one life and injured two other workers, but the incident has interrupted export shipments.

It is understood the explosion occurred in a dust collector at the plant and is the second for spring supplier Chuo Spring, a Toyota affiliate, in as many years.

An October 2023 explosion and subsequent fire caused 10-day part shortages for 13 lines at eight Toyota plants.