So far, Toyota almost didn’t seem to be so affected by the global chip shortage in the automotive industry, or the carmaker isn’t talking about it that much. However, she is now announcing an adjustment to the production plan in response to this global problem – it will reduce its production by 40 percent in September.
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Shutdowns of production plants will begin in August and will run until the end of September. The carmaker expects to produce 360,000 fewer cars worldwide in September, of which 140,000 will be in 14 Japanese factories. There are 80,000 cars in North America and 40,000 in Europe.
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Nevertheless, the carmaker expects to produce 9.3 million Toyota and Lexus worldwide worldwide for this fiscal year ending March 31, 2022. “Certain risk factors are included in the annual plan. But as for September, the impact came sooner and stronger than we expected, “said spokesman Jun Nagata. “We will try to recover from this in October and beyond, but it is already tight,” added global purchasing manager Kazunari Kumakura.
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The shutdowns will not be the first for Toyota. In early August, several production lines stood in four Japanese factories for a few days due to a shortage of parts caused by the outbreak of another wave of covid epidemics in Southeast Asia. Three Brazilian production plants also suspended production this week for the same reason. And one of the brand’s Thai factories has been standing since July 21.
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Production is also stopped by other corporations
Toyota is not the only one that will have to slow down its production lines in the coming weeks due to a lack of chips. Ford has announced the suspension of production of the Fiesta at a factory in Cologne, Germany, for five days from August 23. According to the spokesman, the reason is the same – problems with coronavirus at the semiconductor manufacturer in Malaysia.
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For the same reason, production will also take place in two Stellantis factories in France – Rennes and Sochaux. And Volkswagen is moving in the same direction, although it has not yet announced specific outages: “At this time, we expect the supply of chips in the third quarter to be unstable,” the carmaker told Reuters. By the end of the year, however, the Germans expect the situation to improve.
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