Toyota has again been forced to cut a production target due to parts shortages, this time for the month of November.
A production bulletin from October 21 said output for November would be about 800,000 cars – down on the approximately 900,000-unit monthly average the company had forecast across the September to November period.
The company also missed its October target.
Toyota said it would suspend 11 lines across eight Japanese plants in November for a few days each – affecting cars such as the RAV4 and Corolla (Takaoka plant), Camry (Tsutsumi), Prado (Tahara) and Yaris (Iwate).
Numerous Lexus vehicles are also affected.
This revised November output plan also saw Toyota bite the bullet and predict cuts to its financial year (April 1 to March 31) production target.
“As a result of this plan, the full-year production forecast for FY2023 is expected to be lower than the previous forecast of 9.7 million units,” the company said.
Toyota had until now stuck to its FY2023 target, despite flagging production changes most months this year due to ongoing supply chain problems
“It remains difficult to look ahead due to the impact of semiconductor parts and other factors,” it said.
“However, we will continue to closely examine the supply of parts and work with related parties to consider all possible measures to ensure that we can deliver as many vehicles as possible to our customers at the earliest possible date.
“… We at Toyota would like to again apologise for the repeated adjustments to our production plan due to the parts shortage resulting from the spread of COVID-19, and for causing considerable inconvenience to our customers, who have been waiting for the delivery of vehicles, suppliers, and other parties concerned.”
Background
COVID and semiconductor shortages in its factories and wider supply chain have smashed Toyota lately. It has posted more than 20 production bulletins and subsequent amendments this year as it’s scrambled to navigate difficult waters.
Toyota Australia dealers affected by ongoing chronic stock shortages are telling some customers to prepare for multi-year wait times on core models including LandCruiser, RAV4 and Camry.
Toyota Australia acknowledges the long waits but says there’s not really a one-size-fits-all timeframe, because each dealership has different pipelines.
“Demand for new vehicles is at unprecedented levels. In Australia, to support the strong demand, Toyota Australia been working closely with our global production teams to secure as many vehicles for our market as possible,” it said recently.
“Wait times vary depending on the model, variant and specification requirements of each customer. The RAV4 Hybrid, Camry Hybrid, LandCruiser 70 and LandCruiser 300 are in particularly high demand and currently have longer wait times.
“Due to the evolving nature of this situation, Toyota dealers are best placed to continue to provide updates to customers on delivery timeframes for individual orders.”
Toyota Australia has also removed the customer web order tracking feature from its website, instead telling customers to contact their “selling dealer” for arrival updates.
