[ad_1]
Tokyo — Toyota Motor Corporation reduced its annual production target by 300,000 units on Friday. This is because the increase in COVID-19 infection has slowed production at parts plants in Vietnam and Malaysia, exacerbating the global shortage of automotive chips.
“It’s a combination of coronavirus and semiconductors, but at the moment it’s the coronavirus that has the overwhelming impact,” said Kazunari Kumakura, executive of the world’s largest automaker, after the company revised its production targets. rice field.
Toyota, unlike other major global automakers that were previously forced to reduce production plans, has key components along its supply chain strengthened against the turmoil following the 2011 catastrophic earthquake in northeastern Japan. Because it was stocked, we were able to avoid reducing production.
The announcement by Japanese automakers on Friday is that no part of the global auto industry has been spared the effects of a pandemic that has lost sales and hindered its ability to take advantage of the recovery in demand following the first wave of COVID. It’s a further sign that it’s not. -19.
China’s car sales in August fell by about one-fifth year-on-year due to fewer vehicles purchased.
Toyota currently expects to produce 9 million vehicles in the year to March 31, instead of 9.3 million. It did not revise its forecast for operating profit of 2.5 trillion yen ($ 22.7 billion) for the current fiscal year.
Toyota announced on Friday that it would cut production worldwide by 360,000 in September, plus another 70,000 this month and 330,000 in October. We hope to make up for some of the production lost by the end of the year.
Demand for chips surged during the pandemic as consumer electronics companies rushed to meet the home demand for smartphones, tablets and other devices.
Reliance on Southeast Asian factories for parts is a headache for Toyota, but it is also a problem for rivals who are struggling to describe Volkswagen AG as a “very unstable and tight” chip supply. ..
German automakers have warned that production may need to be further reduced as a result. Ford Motor Co. last month shut down production at its Kansas plant, which manufactures the best-selling F-150 pickups due to parts supply issues, and Renault SA in France extended a partial outage at its Spanish plant.
German luxury car maker Daimler said this month that chip shortages are expected to significantly reduce third-quarter sales.
($ 1 = 109.9200 yen)
[ad_2]