Toyota's Q2 global vehicle production target falls short

Toyota Motor's production for the second quarter in April-June fell short of 9.8% from its initial plan, but the automaker seems to be on an optimistic side for its business from August onwards as the coronavirus lockdowns eased in China and demand outside Japan was robust. The carmaker said that its output and sales were on the path to recovery.

Toyota hopes that it is still on the path to reach its record 9.7 million global vehicle production target for the year ending March 2023. "We do expect a recovery trend, including in Japan, but we are still in a situation where we cannot foresee the future," a spokesperson of the company said, pointing to wariness over risks such as ongoing global chip shortages, a resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic that is hitting Japan as well as high fuel prices.

Toyota produced 793,378 vehicles globally in June, which was slightly above a target of 750,000 it had cut twice and down 4.6% from the same month last year. During its April-June first quarter, Toyota produced 2,120,577 vehicles, 9.8% below its initial target of 2,350,000 for the period. "The entire industry and all the Japanese auto manufacturers in April and May were in a state of disarray," said Koichi Sugimoto, an analyst at the Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.

The automaker's overseas production hit record levels for both June as well as the first six months of the calendar year, with 587,005 units and more than three million units, respectively. Additionally, the company's domestic and North American factories were hit harder by the semiconductor shortage, since they make cutting-edge vehicles, and for the luxury brand Lexus.

Thanks to easing of lockdown in Shanghai, production in China rose 42% for June. Other Asian countries also saw production bouncing back from the pandemic.

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