Automobile Production Rate of Japanese Brands Dropped 20%

Total global production of the eight major Japanese automakers in April compared to the previous year to 1.66 million vehicles, down 20.1% fell. Industry data released the other day reveals the production decline in Shanghai resulting from the worldwide chip crisis caused by COVID-19.

Of the eight automakers, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Six automakers, including one, fell. In fact, Toyota fell 9.1% to 692,259 cars, below its forecast of 750,000 units.

First of all: Why did the chip crisis arise and what consequences does it have?

The chip crisis has put many brands in a very difficult situation for the last two years; even some large companies close to closure quite a serious problem. Although the COVID-19 pandemic is shown as the cause of the crisis, the situation is actually a little more complicated.

In addition to the pandemic, the crisis is a common result of many different factors. For example, two of these factors; between some industries to attract the attention of chip manufacturers. competition and bad planning. Due to the chip crisis, many technology giants, especially automobiles, technological products started to fall behind in production. For this reason, as the number of vehicles in the market decreases, automobile prices also take flight.

The most detailed explanation on the subject came from Toyota.

• Honda: 54% drop
• Mazda: 49.9% drop
• Nissan: 26.5% drop
• Toyota: 11.1% decrease

Toyota and other automakers had to cut production due to the production crisis of chips used in a wide range of products such as automobiles, air conditioners and smartphones due to increasing demand with accelerating digitalization. Honda’s global production fell 54.2% due to slow production in China. We also told you the other day that Honda’s popular Civic model has been hiked 3 times in the last 40 days. Of course, one of the biggest factors for this may be such a decrease in production due to the chip crisis.

Mazda Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. decreased by 49.9% and 26.5%, respectively. Toyota said its global sales in April fell 11.1% year-over-year to 763,708 vehicles, the eighth month down. Its sales in Japan fell 16.8% to 103,143 units, including mini-vehicles, while domestic production fell 9.0% to 243,425 vehicles. Toyota’s overseas sales fell 10.2% to 660,565 vehicles, while production fell 9.1% decreased to 448,834 units.

Toyota said in a statement. “Conditions regarding both COVID-19 and parts supply trends remain unclear, but to minimize the impact. We will continue to make every effort“ said.

In contrast, Subaru Corp.’s worldwide production grew by 63.3% in three months. However, the rest of the automotive companies are not so lucky. For this reason, if the chip crisis is not resolved soon, it is quite possible that we will see more hikes in prices.