Through September, Toyota’s North American plants alone are expected to lose up to 170,000 vehicles-worth of output since the chip shortage began.
The pandemic and related supplier disruptions mean that all but one of the company’s North American plants will be impacted by production cuts in August. Only Toyota’s San Antonio plant will be spared, Automotive News reports, as the factory makes the highly anticipated next-generation Tundra pickup truck, as well as the smaller Tacoma.
“Due to COVID-19 and unexpected events with our supply chain, Toyota is experiencing additional shortages that will affect production at most of our North American plants,” Toyota Motor North America said in a statement. “While the situation remains fluid and complex, our manufacturing and supply chain teams have worked diligently to develop countermeasures to minimize the impact on production. … We do not anticipate any impact to employment at this time.”
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The company expects to lose 60,000-90,000 vehicles-worth of production at its North American plants in August alone, while the company expects production to fall short by 80,000 vehicles in September.
The new isn’t much better outside of North America, as the company expects to lose 360,000 vehicles worth of production globally in September. That amounts to about 40% of its production as plants in Japan, China, and Europe all impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in one way or another.
Carscoops has reached out to Toyota for comment and will update this story when we hear back.
The news is unwelcome for Toyota’s dealers who have seen strong sales this year despite slow production. Although historically low inventory levels are pushing vehicle prices higher and higher, dealers are now struggling to keep enough vehicles on their lots and it’s only set to get harder in the coming months.
