Toyota, Nissan look to restart some Japanese production

Toyota and Nissan say that they will begin restarting idled factories in the coming days.

Acknowledging the need for Japan to get back on its feet, Toyota and Nissan have both announced that some vehicle component and full vehicle production will restart within the next few days.

Toyota says it will begin producing parts domestically on Thursday. The parts are destined for service centers across Japan, not new cars. Toyota has not made a decision as to when to restart production at its 12 major vehicle assembly plants across Japan, however.

Beginning on March 21, Toyota says it will restart parts exportation to assembly plants located overseas, including those in North America.

Nissan, meanwhile, says that its Oppama (pictured), Tochigi and Yokohama assembly plants will restart on March 20. It will resume production tomorrow at its Kyushu plant located at the southern tip of Japan as long as it has parts inventory.

In addition to Japan's automakers, several major automotive suppliers had parts assembly facilities damaged during the massive earthquake that hit the country last week. Aftershocks continue to strike Northern Japan, where Toyota, in particular, has a major assembly presence.

Japan is a major source of automotive parts for nearly every automaker, particularly transmission units and electronics.