A Nikkei report suggests that Toyota is planning to reduce its global production for September by 40% from its previous plan.
The Nikkei report said that in its latest plans formed in July, the automaker had been aiming to build a little under 900,000 automobiles for the month, but that number has been reduced to about 500,000 units due to the impact of the semiconductors shortage.
Although Toyota is widely seen as one of the better positioned OEMs to weather the global chips shortage crisis, the report notes that the Delta variant outbreak across Southeast Asia has also impacted the company’s procurement of auto parts. Vietnam’s new vehicle market plunged by over 38% to 14,457 units in July 2021 as another coronavirus outbreak affected sales due to government movement control orders.
The report says the production cut, which will amount to about 350,000 units, means the automaker will temporarily suspend production lines at multiple domestic factories, including its Takaoka plant in Aichi Prefecture, starting early next month. Production in North America, China and Europe will likely be scaled back by tens of thousands of units, Nikkei reported.
The report also noted that the planned output level for the month of September will put Toyota’s global production for the month well below that of last September, when demand was beginning to recover from the initial stages of the coronavirus pandemic and Toyota turned out 840,000 units.
There are reports that Volkswagen Group is also considering a big cut to production levels next month.