Russia takes revenge on Japan with Toyota boss ban

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.

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.

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.

Toyota had been producing versions of the RAV4 and Camry for the local market until that point, having built 80,000 vehicles in 2021 before the indefinite suspension.

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.

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.