Toyota pushes ahead with production schedule despite hurdles

[TOKYO] Toyota Motor aims to assemble about 800,000 vehicles globally on average per month in the April-June quarter, up from a year earlier but short of the carmaker's plans to make up for lost production due to the pandemic and chip shortages.

Factories are operating at normal levels but not to an extent that will let the automaker recover lost output over the past year, purchasing chief Kazunari Kumakura said on Thursday (Mar 17).

Toyota manufactured an average of about 750,000 vehicles per month during the April-June period a year earlier.

The world's No 1 carmaker has faced a wave of challenges and supply-chain disruptions in recent months, brought on by everything from the Covid pandemic to cyberattacks, bad weather and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. An earthquake that struck off the coast of Fukushima prefecture late on Wednesday halted several of Toyota's plants in north Japan.

Toyota lowered its production plans for the coming quarter from an earlier target, describing it as an "intentional pause" in a statement on Thursday. Earlier this month, the automaker said its manufacturing situation was "at its limit" and announced that it would cut output in Japan by 20 per cent in April, 10 per cent in May and 5 per cent in June.

Kumakura also warned that it's unlikely Toyota will be able to exceed its production plans unveiled on Thursday for the quarter due to rising risks.

Earlier this week, Toyota was forced to halt its plant in China's Changchun city in response to local authorities ordering the northeastern city's 9 million residents into lockdown due to a coronavirus outbreak.

The spread of Covid in China is one of the risks Kumakura foresees in the months ahead. The potential impact is "undeniable," he said. BLOOMBERG