Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda will not be able to visit Russia for the foreseeable future, after the nation placed a ban on the automotive executive and a dozen other Japanese business leaders.
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The Japan Times reports Toyoda-san, along with 12 other Japanese nationals, have been banned from Russia by the Foreign Ministry, following Japan recently placing sanctions on the country after its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
A reason Toyoda-san specifically has been banned is yet to be announced, however Toyota was among a long list of carmakers which shut down its Russian operations shortly after the conflict in Ukraine began.
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In the weeks following the March 2022 invasion, Volkswagen, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, BMW, Nissan, Renault, Hyundai, and Toyota suspended their Russian operations, citing parts supply interruptions.
While the carmaker retained its Russian workforce – who performed maintenance on the Saint Petersburg factory for six months – Toyota exited Russia entirely in September 2022, ending exports to the region and providing its former workforce with redundancy assistance.
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The Saint Petersburg factory Toyota had owned since 2005 was subsequently handed over to Russia's state-backed Central Scientific Research Automobile and Automotive Engines Institute, known as NAMI, in March last year.
No Russian-built Toyota vehicles have ever been sold in Australia.
Content originally sourced from: CarExpert.com.au