Toyota To Cut Production By 40%
Toyota will cut car production by 40 percent in September as its supply chain struggles with a global shortage of semiconductor chips.
The Japanese daily Nikkei said (Thursday) that the world’s largest automaker planned to produce nearly 900,000 cars next month, but that has been revised to about 500,000 cars, without citing its sources, according to Agence France-Presse.
The spread of the most contagious mutant Delta from the Corona virus in Southeast Asia also affected Toyota’s purchase of auto parts, according to the newspaper. Toyota did not immediately comment on this information.
The Japanese giant’s competitors have also had to slow or temporarily halt production due to a shortage of microelectronic chips that are essential to the electronic systems of modern cars and companies have been suffering from low supply since the end of 2020.
When the pandemic spread, automakers scaled back their orders and chip makers shifted production to consumer electronics as purchases of equipment for work and leisure at home surged, leaving automakers in a difficult position as demand for cars soared.
The Japanese newspaper said that from early next month, Toyot-a will suspend operations in several Japanese factories and reduce production in North America, China and Europe.
The chip crisis and other supply chain problems affected by “Covid-19” caused short periods to stop production at Toyota’s Japanese plants.
The company reported record first-quarter net profit earlier this month as sales rose thanks to the recovery from the coronavirus crisis.
But after the newspaper report Thursday, Toyota shares fell 4.42 percent to 9,295 yen.
