The global chip shortage in the auto industry still exists with no sign of slowing down. As a result, the crisis caused many automakers to have problems with vehicle production and Toyota was not immune to disruption. The Japanese manufacturer has now released an official statement to announce that it must adjust its production estimates for this year.
Toyota said the spread of Covid-19 continues to cause “considerable inconvenience” to customers and disruptions in the production chain. The chip shortage forced the automaker to adjust its production plans for November when the company will produce about 800,000 vehicles, of which 250,000 will be built in Japan and about 550,000 at plants in North America, Europe and other regions.
These numbers may still look impressive — imagine how big an imaginary parking lot can hold all 800,000 vehicles — but Toyota says it’s a drop from its initial estimate. The production capacity reduction for November will result in a lower annual production forecast of 9.7 million units. It is important to note, however, that these forecasts are for fiscal year 2023 (FY2023).
“It is still difficult to look ahead due to the impact of semiconductor components and other factors. However, we will continue to monitor the supply of spare parts and work with relevant parties to consider all possible steps to ensure that we can deliver as many vehicles as possible to our customers as quickly as possible,” Toyota said in a statement released to media representatives. We’ve also reached out to the automaker for more details and will update this story when (and if) we hear back.
Toyota also released a list of production suspensions in November at the Japanese plant. There will be production breaks in 8 factories and 11 production lines out of a total of 28 lines in 14 factories. Fujimatsu’s Toyota Auto Body plant will see the highest number of days without production activity, but this is a plant where the automaker only makes JDM Noah and Voxy models.
