Toyota "1100 Million Vehicle Production This Year"... Expected to Break 6-Year Record High

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Toyota Motor Corporation has announced plans to produce and supply 11 million global complete vehicles worldwide this year. Amid the global automotive industry's semiconductor shortage crisis, it is expected that if the parts shortage issue is resolved this year, Toyota could surpass its previous record high for the first time in six years since 2016.

According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on the 26th, Toyota conveyed this plan to major automotive parts suppliers the day before. Each parts company will decide the number of parts to produce throughout the year based on this, finalizing their management plans.

Toyota plans to produce a total of 11 million complete vehicles this year, including 7.5 million overseas and 3.5 million within Japan. Compared to last year, these figures represent increases of 25% and 15%, respectively. Simply calculated, this means producing more than 900,000 vehicles per month. For February, Toyota informed its partners that due to semiconductor parts and labor shortages, the planned production volume of complete vehicles would be reduced by 20%, while in April, it plans to produce a record-high 1 million vehicles.

The key factors are the COVID-19 situation and semiconductor supply issues. Toyota produced 8.74 million vehicles in 2019, 8.18 million in 2020, and set a target of 9 million for the last fiscal year (April 2021 to March 2022). However, Toyota stated that due to semiconductor parts shortages and the spread of COVID-19 in Southeast Asia in February and March this year, large-scale production cuts are expected, resulting in about 150,000 fewer vehicles produced than planned. From the 21st to the 24th, COVID-19 infections among factory and parts supplier employees caused the suspension of operations on 21 lines at 11 of the 14 factories in Japan, significantly impacting production. As a result, Toyota's global complete vehicle production, which exceeded 9 million in 2016, has fallen short of its target for five consecutive years.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, "With the prolonged COVID-19 spread, achieving the target remains uncertain."

Meanwhile, according to the UK-based global automotive industry market research firm LMC Automotive, global vehicle sales decreased by 14% to 77.76 million units in 2020 compared to the previous year but recovered to 81.05 million units last year and are expected to increase to 85.95 million units this year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.