IT’S A CRISIS: Car Manufacturers Around the World Are Halting Production Due to a Lack of Computer Chips – Repair Shops Also Affected

 

Toyota, the largest carmaker in Japan, is forced to slow down production due to a lack of computer chips.  Nissan in the US is in the same boat.  The parts crisis is killing auto manufacturers and repair shops around the globe.  

Yahoo News reported:

The shortage of parts caused by the coronavirus pandemic is further denting production at Toyota, Japan’s top automaker.

Production at 11 plants in Japan will be halted Friday, Saturday and next Monday, Toyota Motor Corp. said.

That comes on top of reductions planned for February that were announced earlier. Those reduction will be on various days at eight of its 14 plants in Japan, including assembly lines making the Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury models.

Supplies are running short because of a lack of computer chips, which are crucial in auto parts. Plants in and out of Japan have undergone lockdowns and stoppages related to COVID-19 measures. Toyota has not given details.

Production in January will be reduced by 47,000 vehicles, when accounting for the latest changes, according to Toyota. For the fiscal year through March, production will now fall short of the 9 million vehicles the automaker had targeted, despite healthy demand for Toyota offerings. All manufacturers are scrambling to secure the tight chips supply, worsening the crunch, Toyota said.

“We are doing our utmost to deliver our vehicles to our customers as soon as possible,” it said in a statement. “We deeply apologize.”

Nissan in the US is in the same boat.  It reported in August 2021 on its challenges with chips:

Nissan says its huge factory in Smyrna, Tennessee, will close for two weeks starting Monday due to computer chip shortages brought on by a coronavirus outbreak in Malaysia.

The shutdown is among the longest at any U.S. auto plant of this size since the semiconductor shortage, which has hobbled auto production worldwide, started to hit late last year.

Nissan said Tuesday that it ran short of chips due to a COVID-19 outbreak at a chip factory in Malaysia. It expects production to resume Aug. 30.

The 6 million-square-foot Tennessee factory employs 6,700 people and makes six Nissan models, including the Rogue small SUV, the company’s top-selling U.S. vehicle.

Cars Direct reports that the auto chip shortage may not be addressed until 2023.

Around the world car manufacturers and car repair shops are at a standstill because there are no chips needed to keep the cars running.  This is now another crisis that Biden has no idea how to address.