Subaru said on June 18 that it would cut production at its Gunma plant in Japan in July because of a global shortage of semiconductors. A Subaru spokesman said: "this is part of the production adjustment plan caused by the shortage of semiconductors."
Subaru announced that the plant in (Gunma), Gunma prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, will suspend production from July 16. The plant is responsible for producing Subaru's best-selling models, including the 2022 Forest Man (Forester) Compact SUV, which the company just released.
The shutdown could affect the inventory of 2022 forest people this summer. Josh Obenreder, a Subaru retailer from Ohio, says it may not have more forest man models available until August. "Subaru has assured us that our inventories will probably return to normal levels by August," he said. "
Foreign media said that Subaru's shutdown is the latest impact of chip shortage on the automobile manufacturing industry. The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a global shortage of semiconductors. The auto industry has been particularly hard hit, with production at Ford, GM, BMW and Honda all affected.
In addition, Suzuki, another Japanese carmaker, said it would consider cutting production at its Kosai and Sagara plants in (Shizuoka), Shizuoka prefecture, in July, with a shutdown of two days and seven days, respectively. A Suzuki spokesman said that although the cut-off date had not yet been set, the company was "making continuous adjustments to minimize the impact".
