At the onset of the microchip shortage, Toyota was initially less affected than other automakers, but time has caught up with it, perhaps inevitably, and it is now feeling the pinch right along with everyone else in the industry.
Even as the shortages start to resolve overall, stakeholders have accepted that it will be 2023 before we see some normality in terms of supply and production. Today’s announcement by Toyota thus comes as no surprise, thus.
The Japanese automaker, which had managed to avoid the worst of the shortage problems last year, says it will fall short of its global production forecast by 150,000 vehicles next month. So whereas the automaker planned to assemble 900,000 vehicles globally in April, it will now build 750,000.
The announcement comes a week after the company said it would cut domestic production by 20 percent during April, May and June to ease pressure on suppliers struggling with shortages of microchips and other parts.
“It is still difficult to foresee the situation several months ahead, and there is a possibility the current plan will be revised downward,” the company said via a statement.
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During this period of the year, Toyota typically produces an average of 800,000 vehicles per month. Today’s announcement translates into an estimated reduction of 17 percent in April, 10 percent in May and 5 percent in June.
Two other factors not directly related to the lack of available microchips are compounding the production problems the automaker is facing. The current pandemic has forced Toyota to suspend a joint venture with the Chinese group FAW in the northeastern city of Changchun, and the war in Ukraine is presenting logistical challenges, namely with the shutdown of a factory in Russia.
Toyota says these two aggravating factors did not play a role in the company’s decision to reduce global production, but they are being closely monitored by the company, however, as the situation in Ukraine is evolving rapidly.