Toyota Motor Corp.’s global production fell by more than a third in September from a year earlier, hit by disrupted access to semiconductors and other key auto parts that is weighing on Japan’s automakers.
The automaker produced 512,765 vehicles in September, down from 841,915 cars a year earlier, Toyota said in a statement Thursday. Global sales also fell 16 percent for the month, the first year-on-year drop in 13 months.
The steep production cuts fall broadly in line with Toyota’s August announcement that it would be reducing September production by about 40 percent, or 360,000 vehicles, from its original plan.
The decline marks the beginning of a production pullback period among Japanese automakers. Toyota, Honda and Nissan began adjusting output in September as a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia disrupted suppliers’ operations.
Those supply chain issues have continued to weigh on production plans through next month.
