TOKYO – Toyota is finally cutting its production forecast for the fiscal year after stubbornly sticking to it for months, admitting it must cut its plan for November because of the semiconductor crisis.
Dropping its target, the world’s biggest automaker said it “expects” to cut its global production schedule for the fiscal year ending March 31, though it did not offer a new target.
Toyota had stubbornly stuck to its goal of producing 9.7 million vehicles in the current fiscal year, even as it repeatedly cut monthly plans amid global supply chain turmoil.
As recently as September, Toyota had said it wanted to build 900,000 vehicles a month from September through November, as it scrambled to make up lost volume earlier in the year. But then it cut September production to 850,000 and October production to 800,000.
In a statement on Friday, the automaker said the November total would also drop to 800,000, covering 250,000 units in Japan and 550,000 overseas.
The suspensions in Japan will affect 11 lines at eight plants, out of 28 lines at 14 plants.
Affected nameplates include Corolla, Corolla Cross, RAV4, Camry, Crown, Land Cruiser Prado and 4Runner, as well as Lexus LS, IS RC, NX, UX, ES and GX.
“As a result of this plan, the full-year 2023 production forecast is expected to be lower than the previous forecast of 9.7 million units,” Toyota said.
Despite continuing production problems, Toyota’s now abandoned target of 9.7 million vehicles for the full fiscal year would have marked an all-time high if it had actually been achieved.
The target counts production only for the Toyota and Lexus brands; it does not cover the consolidated figures of the Daihatsu minicar or Hino truck manufacturing subsidiaries.
The target represented a huge leap forward from Toyota’s current production record of 9.08 million vehicles, the volume it produced in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017.
