Toyota to slash its vehicle production worldwide by 40%

The company is said to have stated that it will make some cuts in August at a few of its plants, however, the bulk of the production cuts will happen in September.

Toyota is said to have announced a slash in its worldwide production numbers, starting from September 2021. According to a media report, the Japanese carmaker will reduce its production numbers to 540,000 from 900,000 units; translating to a 40% reduction.

The reason for the reduction in worldwide production is said to be due to the shortage of semiconductor chips. While many of Toyota's rivals have already scaled down production numbers, the Japanese carmaker had until now managed to avoid doing the same. This was achieved because Toyota had built a larger stockpile of the semi-conductor as part of the company's revamp post the Fukushima earthquake & Tsunami a decade ago.

However, with the resurgence of coronavirus especially in Asia, Toyota's supplies have taken a hit forcing them to cut down production numbers. The company is said to have stated that it will make some cuts in August at a few of its plants, however, the bulk of the production cuts will happen in September at factories primarily in Asia and the USA.

Recently, Jean-Marc Chery, CEO of STMicroelectronics - a company manufacturing the semi-conductors, stated that the global chip shortage would return to normal only by early-2023, with gradual improvement expected from late-2022.

Source: BBC