Toyota had a plan for the big US port strike

Vaseline2 weeks ago

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Toyota had a plan for the big US port strike

US dockworkers on the East Coast and Gulf Coast walked off the job Tuesday, starting the first large-scale work stoppage among dock workers in nearly 50 years. The move is expected to have a huge impact on global transportation and the auto industry, as new vehicles are delayed in and out of America.

Now, it has emerged that Toyota saw this coming, so it has started ramping up production to head off any strike action that could affect its ability to deliver cars around the world, Reuters reports. The Japanese automaker, which operates factories in places like Mississippi, Alabama, Texas and Tennessee, built up its inventory of vehicles and parts before the U.S. port attacks, as Reuters reports:

Toyota, which relies on US East Coast and Gulf ports to import everything from vehicle components to fully built cars, said it was monitoring the situation closely.

Dock workers on these coasts have gone on strike, their first full-scale shutdown in nearly 50 years, after negotiations for a new labor contract broke down.

“We’ve built up some extra inventory here in the last couple of weeks to help us buy a few days’ worth of inventory,” said Jack Hollis, director of operations at Toyota’s North American unit.

The company had plans it could implement to change ports and locations, Hollis said.

“It would be crippling for the economy if this goes on for too long,” he added.

While Toyota may claim the increased inventory was in preparation for the swine strike, it revealed this week that sales for the third quarter of 2024 were down “about eight percent,” according to Reuters. The sales decline was attributed to fewer selling days in the last quarter, as well as “inflationary headwinds.”

Toyota posted sales of 542,872 units for Q3 2024, which follows similar declines in demand from automakers such as Nissan and General Motors.

A version of this article originally appeared on Jalopnik’s The Morning Shift.