Affected by shortages of chips and parts, Toyota's global production and sales "double down" in May

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp's global monthly averageproductionin the first five months of this year was 9.7 percent below expectations, raising doubts about whether the company can maintain production targets for the current fiscal year (April 2022-March 2023).

Toyota Motor's global vehicle production inMayfell 5.3 percent from a year earlier to 634,940 vehicles, missing its production target of about 700,000 vehicles, the third straight month it missed its monthly production target.Among them, Toyota's production in Japan fell by 28.5% year-on-year to 144,204 units, but overseas production increased by 4.6% year-on-year to 490,736 units.

From January to May this year, Toyota's cumulative global vehicle production fell 3.2% year-on-year to 3,565,861 units.Among them, Toyota's production in Japan decreased by 15.7% year-on-year to 1,065,286 units, but overseas production increased by 3.3% year-on-year to 2,500,575 units.

In the first five months of this year, Toyota's global monthly average production of 713,172 vehicles was 9.7% lower than the original forecast of 790,000 vehicles.While Toyota is sticking to a record 9.7 million production target for the current fiscal year, it also raised the possibility that production "could be lower."

Image credit: Toyota

Toyota, which performed well in the first few months of a global semiconductor crunch with a large inventory of chips, has cut production several times this year amid shortages of key chips and components and supply disruptions caused by the spread of the coronavirus.

In mid-April, Toyota said it planned to produce 750,000 vehicles globally in May, but it lowered its production target for May by 50,000 vehicles due to the spread of the new crown epidemic.In addition, Toyota lowered its June global production target twice - the latest target of 750,000 vehicles, about 12% less than the original estimate of 850,000 vehicles.Toyota has called its suspension of some production in the second quarter an "intentional shutdown" to ease the burden on suppliers.

In addition, Toyota's global vehicle salesin Mayfell 9.4% year-on-year to 761,466 vehicles, of which Toyota's sales in Japan fell 20.9% year-on-year to 86,544 vehicles, and overseas sales also fell 7.7% year-on-year to 674,922 vehicles.In the first five months of this year, Toyota's global cumulative sales decreased by 6.7% year-on-year to 3,881,699 units, of which Toyota's sales in Japan fell by 18% year-on-year to 565,558 units, and overseas sales also fell by 4.4% year-on-year to 3,316,141 units.