Chip Shortages Still Plague Toyota, Other Auto Makers
Japanese car maker trims full-year production plan by 500,000 vehicles
TOKYO— Toyota TM -0.51% Motor Corp. said it still can’t get its hands on enough semiconductors to meet its production goals, despite signs of excess supply elsewhere in the chip business.
Toyota on Tuesday lowered its production target for the current fiscal year through March to 9.2 million units from a previous goal of 9.7 million units, citing a shortage of automotive chips.
Semiconductor makers have said they see a sharp slowdown in demand, caused by a pullback in sales of personal computers, smartphones and data servers. However, certain chips used in the automotive industry remain in short supply, according to analysts and executives.
Chip maker STMicroelectronics NV said in late October that its backlog of automotive orders remains well above current and planned manufacturing capacity through 2023.
Toyota also reported results for the July-September quarter on Tuesday. It said net profit in the quarter fell 31% from a year earlier to ¥434 billion, equivalent to $2.9 billion. The figure fell short of analysts’ estimates, and Toyota shares were down more than 2% in afternoon trading in Tokyo. The company said profit was weaker in part because of higher costs of materials, despite the positive effects of a weaker yen.