Toyota announced on Friday that its global production would fall by up to 15% in November due to chip shortages, but would increase production in December to keep its full-year production plan unchanged.
Toyota said it had planned to produce 1 million cars next month, but now expects to produce only about 850000 to 900000. About 50, 000 cars are expected to be cut in Japan and 50, 000 to 100000 in overseas markets.
Although it adjusted its November production plan, Toyota's full-year production plan will not be affected. Toyota will stick to its target of producing 9 million vehicles for the whole year (by March 31 next year), the company said, in view of the loosening of the blockade of the epidemic in Southeast Asia.
Earlier, Toyota was forced to cut its full-year production target by 300000 vehicles to 9 million as a result of a surge in novel coronavirus cases in Malaysia and Vietnam, which reduced the supply of spare parts.
Kazuke Kumakura, an executive in charge of procurement at Toyota, said the worst was over and the risk was decreasing, but the supply crunch would continue.
Toyota, which used to be known for its just-in-time supply chain, has struggled in the past few weeks and said on Friday that it would continue its efforts to strengthen its supply chain in response to persistent shortages of some parts. Given that the semiconductor shortage crisis will continue for a long time, Toyota will consider using alternative products if conditions permit.
Some analysts pointed out that Toyota's November production cut was not surprising because of environmental factors, and the company showed strong recovery ambitions, but capacity could not recover as quickly as originally planned, and parts shortages remained the main risk.
