Toyota production volume in North America to drop by 170k vehicles due to pandemic, supplier disruptions

The global semiconductor chip shortage will see Toyota cut its North American production volume by up to 170,000 vehicles through September as a result of ongoing supplier disruptions and the Covid-19 pandemic, Automotive News reported.

This will bring more pressure on dealers in the United States which have enjoyed strong sales as the brand saw sales increased by 43% through July, and Toyota outsold General Motors 688,812 units to the domestic automotive group’s 683,696 units in the second quarter.

News of the supply pinch faced by Toyota in North America comes after the Japanese manufacturer announced that it is expecting to lose global production by about 40% or 360,000 vehicles, and the supply shortage will also impact Japan, China as well as other region in Asia and Europe, according to the report.

“While the situation remains fluid and complex, our manufacturing and supply chain teams have worked diligently to develop countermeasures to minimise the impact on production. We do not anticipate any impact to employment at this time,” Toyota Motor North America said in a statement.

In addition to its North American production drop, nearly all Toyota production lines in Japan will be halted at some point between late August and September

For its domestic production operations, Toyota also announced that 27 out of 28 lines in 14 plants among its facilities in Japan will have production suspended from late August through September, with dates varying from line to line; this has also been attributed to parts shortages stemming from Covid-19 outbreaks in Southeast Asia.

The suspension of production will be for three days at the Motomachi plant for the Crown, Noah, Voxy and Mirai, C+pod and GR Yaris, and for the entire month of September for low-volume models comprised of the Lexus LC and the Toyota Century. Halted for the first two weeks of September will be the Takaoka plant, which produces the Corolla and Corolla Touring, Harrier, Prius Alpha and RAV4.

Other key models affected in this nearly-range-wide disruption include – and not limited to – the C-HR, Aqua (Prius c), Yaris and Yaris Cross from the Iwate plant; Prius, Prius Prime PHEV, Corolla Sport, Camry and Lexus ES from the Tsutsumi plant; Land Cruiser Prado, Lexus GX, 4Runner and Lexus LS, IS, RC, RC F, NX from the Tahara plant, as well as the Hiace, Granace, Alphard, Vellfire and Lexus LM from the Toyota Auto Body Inabe plant.

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