Honda cyberattack halts plants in India, Brazil, Turkey

Tokyo: Honda plants in Turkey, Brazil and India have halted operations as the Japanese carmaker battles to recover from a cyberattack that affected several factories worldwide.

The cyberattack at the beginning of the week targeted Honda’s internal servers and spread a virus through the company’s systems, a spokeswoman told AFP on Wednesday.

A four-wheel vehicle plant in Turkey and motorcycle plants in India and Brazil were still out of action following the attack, the spokeswoman said, adding that the firm was “still investigating details”.

In total, the cyberattack affected 11 Honda plants – including five in the US, according to local media reports.

All US plants have resumed operations, the spokeswoman said, declining to elaborate further.

She said the suspension would have only a limited impact on Honda’s business globally.

Global automakers including Honda have already been hit hard by a slump in sales due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

Last month, Honda reported a 25.3-percent fall in net profit from the previous year as sales dropped six percent to 14.9 trillion yen ($138 billion) in the fiscal year ending in March.