Japan’s automaker Toyota global output down 25 pct in October on parts crunch

Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. said on Monday that its global output sank 25.8 percent in October year-on-year to 627,452 vehicles as the impact of parts crunch continued, local media reported Monday.

The reports said the company’s global sales fell 20.1 percent to 677,564 units with many deliveries of Toyota vehicles postponed.

Following a year-on-year 39.1 percent decline in September, the leading Japanese automaker logged the third consecutive decrease in global output.

Meanwhile, Toyota’s domestic output in October sank 50.9 percent from a year earlier to 151,918 units, also down for the third straight month.

Toyota and other Japanese carmakers have been forced to reduce production due to the global chips droughts and other parts shortages caused by factory shutdowns in Southeast Asia due to COVID-19.

Toyota attempted to ease the impact of the supply chain disruption by producing parts in other areas, but its output was still far below its plan of 880,000 units. However, the automaker said in a press release that the production plans from November onward “are expected to be at high levels,” as restrictions over economic activities in Southeast Asia have been easing recently.

Moreover, Toyota said that all of its 14 plants in Japan, which faced output adjustments in October, would operate normally for the first time in seven months in December.