Toyota’s October vehicle production beat target by 23%

Toyota’s October global vehicle production increased by 23% above its expected target. Reuters reports on November 29, Toyota has beat out its own target for three months in a row. As the industry strives to get past persistent chip shortages that have previously stalled production.  

The Japanese automaker produced 771,382 global vehicles compared to the projected 750,000 units. But, growth slowed from record monthly rates of more than 887,000 cars manufactured in September. The supply chain shortage continues to cause disruptions as China battles nationwide COVID-19 outbreaks and implements restrictions and lockdowns. 

With the persistent battles in surging material costs and chip shortages, the Toyota executive in charge has prioritized supplies for electronic goods while natural disasters, COVID lockdowns, and factory disruptions have interrupted production. 

Toyota anticipates producing 9.2 million vehicles in the fiscal year that ends in March 2023, which is lower than the expected 9.7 million but still exceeds the production of around 8.6 million vehicles in the previous fiscal year.

On the other hand, Toyota lowered its yearly output targets earlier this month and reported a worse-than-expected 25% decline in quarterly profit. The fourth consecutive quarterly profit decline highlighted the sturdiness of the industry, but the world’s largest carmaker by sales also cautioned that it remained difficult to predict the future.

Overall, despite the consistent challenges Toyota faces, other positive factors beyond these difficulties should have provided a boost. Analysis at SBI Securities notes “Considering these points … the absolute amount of profit in the second quarter has got to be higher than that of the first quarter. It is very unimpressive.”

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