It’s been three years since the global pandemic and the semi-conductor industry is still suffering. The chip shortage is a result of simply not having enough workers. Because there aren’t enough workers, there is a longer period of time before the raw material can be dug out and processed and shipped to the chip plant to be made into chips. Adding on top of that, the chip factories don’t have enough workers for them to produce the chips either.
Because of this, Toyota said that they plan to produce 10.6 million cars this year. In an article by Reuters’ Daniel Leussink, “Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) on Monday said it could produce as many as 10.6 million vehicles this year, while warning of downward risk to its projection from the possible impact of issues such as parts supply shortages and COVID-19.The car giant said that it saw a downside risk of about 10% on that baseline production volume - a value which did not constitute a formal production target for this calendar year - on risks such as shortages in chips supply or the spread of COVID-19.The purpose of disclosing the baseline figure was to make it easier for suppliers to draw up management plans, a Toyota executive said.”
This is pretty impressive considering the sheer number of cars that equates to. 10.6 million is an insanely large number in plain sight. In hindsight it’s not that big considering the global population is around 8 billion. Now Toyota seems to be poking a larger hole in their EV development as they plan to patent 6 new bZ models. This will help boost their global foot print on EV vehicles even though they are not pursuing it as a number one priority. Even when they release an EV like the bZ4X, it doesn’t do like they say it would due to it’s price and lack of modern range it can reach.
I think that the number Toyota has given is not as bad as we should think. Most of these cars which will be produced are going to be hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and probably a few EVs as well. This will mean that a lot of people are going to see them as an inventive to maybe get a more fuel efficient car.
What do you think? Are these numbers feasible by Toyota? Let us know in the comments below.
Harutiun Hareyan is reporting Toyota news at Torque News. His automotive interests and vast experience test-riding new cars give his stories a sense of authenticity and unique insights. Follow Harutiun on Twitter at @HareyanHarutiun and on YouTube at Toyota Time for daily Toyota news.