Subaru and Suzuki suspended production due to chip outage

According to foreign media reports, Japanese carmaker Subaru said that due to a shortage of chips, its plant in (Yajima) Yashima will suspend production from April 10 to 27, which will affect the production of 10, 000 vehicles.

Subaru said in a statement on April 5 that it would restart all production lines at the (Gunma) Yashima plant in Gunma prefecture from May 10. The company also said the impact of the shutdown on the group's financial performance was uncertain. Subaru said some operations would resume on April 21, adding that April 28 to May 9 would be the planned holiday break for the plant. A Subaru spokesman said the shutdown was caused by a global shortage of semiconductors and had nothing to do with the previous fire at chip maker Renesa Electronics.

In addition, Suzuki also announced that it would temporarily suspend production at two of its three plants in Japan, also due to a shortage of chips. Suzuki said on April 5 that it would suspend production at its two plants in (Shizuoka Prefecture), Shizuoka prefecture. This is the first time Suzuki has stopped production due to a shortage of chips. The suspension of production is one of the three production lines in the Sagara plant and the Kosai plant.

Suzuki told the media that the company has no plans to cut production for the time being and that they will maintain the operation of the factory during the holiday to make up for the loss of production. In the fiscal year to March 2020, Suzuki produced 940000 passenger cars in Japan, with two factories in Shizuoka prefecture accounting for 80 per cent of the company's total production.

In February, Suzuki was forced to temporarily shut down some production lines at its Kosai plant for one day because of an Earthquake incident in northeastern Japan, which affected production by some partners. Other Japanese carmakers, including Toyota, Honda and Nissan, have also experienced shutdowns because of parts shortages caused by a severe winter storm in North America.