Typhoon adds to Toyota’s production woes

AN APPROACHING typhoon has forced Toyota, Nissan and subsidiary Nissan Shatai to suspend production at plants in western Japan this week.

Facilities in the Fukuoka region will likely be heavily impacted by typhoon Hinnamnor, with some businesses in South Korea also contemplating the temporary suspension of operations.

The typhoon is the second natural disaster to impact Toyota’s production output in as many months.

Last month, heatwaves in China saw the suspension of operations at the manufacturer’s Chengdu facility in Sichuan province.

Electricity shortages in the region prompted local authorities to limit the supply of power to industrial regions as the country struggled to cope with its worst heatwave in 60 years.

Sichuan province rationed industrial electricity consumption for users across 19 of its 21 major cities, prompting Toyota and other producers to suspend operations, or curtail output.

Like many other manufacturers across the globe, Toyota has been hard hit by pandemic-related parts shortages and logistics woes, increasing raw material and labour costs, and the ongoing impact of the global microprocessor supply issue.

The company has revised down its 2022 global production target every month since May, most recently announcing a 28 per cent fall in Japanese production figures. Over past months, Toyota has quelled production at domestic facilities including Motomichi

 – where the all-electric bZ4X, GR Yaris and Lexus LC are produced – and Takaoka – where the Kluger and RAV4 are produced.

Other facilities, including Tahara (Lexis LS, IS, RC and NX), Iwate (C-HR, Yaris and Yaris Cross), Miyagi Ohira (Yaris Cross and Corolla), as well as Fujimatsu and Yoshiwara (Lexus LX, Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series and 300 Series) have also been affected by recent production slowdowns.

July output fell 8.6 per cent from a year earlier to 706,547 vehicles, Toyota said in a statement last week. The production volume was below both its target of 800,000 units and the July 2021 output of 773,135 units.

Stock shortages have seen declines in many of Toyota’s markets, including Australia. Locally, vehicle lines including LandCruiser 70 Series, LandCruiser 300 Series and RAV4 have been hardest hit as the company struggles to meet demand.

Despite the doom and gloom, Toyota said it is sticking to its fiscal year production target of 9.7 million vehicles through to March 2023 and has maintained its profit outlook.

The car-maker says it plans to raise output through to November, depending on supplies of parts and the availability of personnel. Toyota said it expects September production to rebound globally to around 850,000 units, which would be a record for the month.