Japanese Automakers Report Production Decrease in October Due to Parts Shortage
Updated: Sep 13, 2021
Customers who wish to buy or are in line to buy a car from Japanese automobile manufacturers in the next few months may have to wait longer than expected.
Akio Toyoda, head of Japan's Automobile Manufacturers Association and Toyota Motor Corp., recently reported a decrease in car production in October 2021 due to shortages of car parts and components caused by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the car industry.
Because of the growing number of COVID-19 cases worldwide, component-manufacturing factories have closed as they lack an adequate workforce, resulting in difficulties in sourcing car parts and components, especially semiconductors.
The component shortage is enough to make Toyota, Japan's largest automaker, drop its global car production to 470,000 in September 2021 and 550,000 in October 2021. The company now expects to produce 9 million units instead of the original 9.3 million units before the fiscal year ends on 31 March 2022.
It's still unclear if Toyota's target amount of produced cars for November 2021 will remain unaffected, but the company stated it would maintain its current output plan. However, even with the aforementioned cutbacks, Toyota assures customers it will try to increase unit production to offset lost sales before the fiscal year ends.
Other Japanese automakers, including Nissan, Suzuki, Honda and Mazda, are experiencing the same difficulties as Toyota. As a result, they also opted to cut unit production to adjust to the limited number of semiconductors and car parts.
The semiconductor shortage was caused by the surge of demand for consumer tech products that will allow people to work or study from their homes during the early stages of COVID-19, such as phones, laptops and tablets. The trade war between the Trump administration and China, as well as a structural change in the semiconductor industry, also played a major role in causing and even aggravating the semiconductor shortage.
Written by John Paul Joaquin