Toyota Motor to scale down production of cars due to chip shortage

Toyota Motor said it will bring down vehicle production in Japan by about 20 percent in April, which will be reduced to about 10 percent in May, and further to 5 percent in June.

Toyota is Japan's leading carmaker with 2.88 million vehicles manufactured for the market last year. Toyota manufactures cars like the Camry sedan, Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury models for the Japanese markets.

Toyota spokeswoman Shiori Hashimoto said today that the Japanese carmaker had raised production targets starting in April to catch up on lost production caused by parts shortages related to the Covid-19 pandemic under a ‘recovery plan’. “So production will still be at a high level. We will continue to do our best to deliver vehicles to our customers as soon as possible," said Hashimoto.

According to the carmaker, the topic of production came up in recent talks between management and workers to address “the hardships" at production lines and suppliers. Toyota did not give any specific details or the number of cars it will reduced from its production plan so far.

Toyota also has a number of other smaller vehicle manufacturers under its group company, which includes truck maker Hino and smaller car maker Daihatsu. Together, the production stands at 3.89 million vehicles in Japan. Globally, Toyota, Hino and Daihatsu produced about 10 million vehicles.

All the world’s automakers have been hit hard by production delays in suppliers as regions observed lockdowns and other restrictions during the pandemic. Toyota has customers waiting for months for the products to be delivered.

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