A day after company delegation meets PM, Indus Motor announces 1-week plant shutdown

A day after a company delegation met the country’s prime minister to showcase its “locally-made” Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Indus Motor Company (IMC) announced yet another temporary plant shutdown due to inventory concerns.

The assembler of Toyota vehicles in Pakistan said its production will remain suspended from June 3 to June 8 due to Letters of Credit (LC) issue and inventory shortages.

The automaker shared the development in a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday.

It said its vendors continue to face hurdles in import of raw materials and receiving clearance of their consignments, on account of challenges in opening of LCs and supply issues by certain foreign vendors.

“This has disrupted the supply chain of the company and the vendors are unable to supply raw materials and components to the company. The company has insufficient inventory levels to maintain production, therefore the company is unable to continue its production activities.

“In view of the above, the company has decided to completely shut down its production plant from 3 June 2023 to 8 June 2023 (both days inclusive),” it added.

This is Indus Motor’s fourth announcement of production closure this year. Earlier, the company announced a complete shutdown of its plant from May 2 to May 3, March 24 to March 27, and then again from February 1 to February 14 citing inventory shortage.

Earlier, a delegation, led by Vice Chairman Shinji Yanagi and Chief Executive Ali Asghar Jamali, met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday to showcase the first locally-manufactured Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV).