Subaru will pause production at all of its factories in Japan due to the ongoing global semiconductor shortage.
This move will impact the Gunma, Yajima, and Oizumi factories, with the first two handling production of various vehicles and the third building engines and transmissions. All three sites will be closed for four working days from September 7. This isn’t the first time Subaru has made such a move as it shut down its Yajima plant in April for 13 days.
In a statement, the automaker said the financial impact of the move has yet to be determined. It also made no mention of production at its U.S. plant in Indiana being impacted.
Read Also: Toyota Suspends Select Japanese Production Over Supply Issues Caused By COVID-19
Subaru is far from the only car manufacturer that continues to be affected by the semiconductor shortage. After initially escaping the brunt of the shortage earlier this year thanks to its large stockpile of chips, Toyota recently announced that it will cut its global production by 40 per cent later this month due to the shortage of chips, as well as the growth of COVID-19 through Southeast Asia.
In total, Toyota will idle 15 production plants in Japan during September, meaning 140,000 fewer vehicles will be manufactured. Toyota has been able to go most of this year without significantly altering its production schedule as it began requiring its chip suppliers to stockpile two to six months’ worth of chips immediately after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.
