Following Toyota Group’s announcement on Friday that its global production volume for the fiscal year ending March 2023 will be lower than planned due to supply-side issues;

Justin Cox, Director, Global Production at Global Data’s LMC Automotive division, offers his view:

“It’s not just Toyota that is battling against supply-side disruption and material shortages. GlobalData estimates that, during this year to September, operational disruptions—principally caused by chip shortages, COVID-19 and other logistical challenges—have impacted world light vehicle (LV) output by over six million units.

“Toyota’s global scale means that it is among those original equipment manufacturers (OEM) who have been the hardest hit, particularly by component shortages caused by COVID-19 lockdowns in China. Despite the group’s celebrated supply-chain management methods, Toyota appears to have been overestimating the pace of normalization in supply chains, and this has prompted the announcement that its Fiscal Year 2023 global production forecast (9.7 million) will be missed.

“Given the enduring risks, Toyota’s global LV volume outlook over this period could now fall to around nine million.”