Toyota Succumbs to Chip Shortage and Shuts Factories

TOKYO—The global semiconductor shortage has finally started to bite at Toyota Motor Corp., highlighting how a resurgence in Covid-19 infections from the Delta variant around the world is prolonging the pandemic and hitting even the best-prepared companies.

Japan’s largest car maker said Thursday it was cutting production in the country by 40% in September because of a shortage of semiconductors. The company declined to say whether it would shut down plants outside Japan.

The cuts affect most of Toyota’s plants in Japan and some of its bestselling vehicles. One of Toyota’s main plants near its headquarters in Toyota City, which produces the RAV4 sport-utility vehicle and Corolla sedan, will close from Sept. 1 to 17. The nearby Tsutsumi plant that produces the Camry and Lexus ES sedans faces a similar period of closure.

In North America, the Japanese auto maker plans to reduce factory output by between 40% and 60% in August, a spokesman said.

The cut will leave Toyota with 60,000 to 90,000 fewer vehicles rolling off the assembly line during this time, affecting a range of models. It also expects manufacturing disruptions to cost it another 80,000 vehicles in lost North American output in September, although its estimates remain fluid.