Like I said in the MB thread - if everyone thought 2020 was the year for shortages, they are dead wrong. The rest of 2021 and 2022 is just gonna get worse before it gets better. The snowball is growing.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-58266794
QuoteToyota is to slash worldwide vehicle production by 40% in September because of the global microchip shortage.
The world's biggest carmaker had planned to make almost 900,000 cars next month, but has now reduced that to 540,000 vehicles.
Volkswagen, the world's second-biggest car producer, has warned it may also be forced to cut output further.
The Covid pandemic boosted demand for appliances that use chips, such as phones, TVs and games consoles.
On Thursday, German firm Volkswagen, which cut output earlier in the year, told Reuters: "We currently expect supply of chips in the third quarter to be very volatile and tight.
"We can't rule out further changes to production."
Toyota's other rivals, including General Motors, Ford, Nissan, Daimler, BMW and Renault, have already scaled back production in the face of the global chip shortage.
Until now, Toyota had managed to avoid doing the same, with the exception of extending summer shutdowns by a week in France the Czech Republic and Turkey.
New cars often include dozens of microchips but Toyota benefited from having built a larger stockpile of chips - also called semiconductors - as part of a revamp to its business continuity plan, developed in the wake of the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami a decade ago.
The decision to reduce output now has been precipitated by the resurgence of coronavirus cases across Asia hitting supplies.
The company will make some cuts in August at its plants in Japan and elsewhere.
The bulk of the cuts - 360,000 - will come in September and affect factories in Asia and the US.
In the UK, Toyota has a car plant at Burnaston, in Derbyshire, and an engine plant on Deeside. In a statement, it said: "Toyota is going to great lengths to minimise the impact of the semi-conductor supply shortage that is globally impacting the automotive industry.
"In terms of our UK production operations, we are currently operating as planned at both plants."
The aim for Toyota as a whole is to make up for any lost volume by the end of 2021.
A wide range of businesses from car makers to small appliance manufacturers have been hit by the chip shortage.
Issues started to emerge last year when Apple had to stagger the release of its iPhones, while the latest Xbox and PlayStation consoles failed to meet demand.
Since then, one technology company after another has warned of the effects.
And last month, the boss of chipmaker Intel, Pat Gelsinger, said the worst of the global chip crisis was yet to come.
Mr Gelsinger predicted the shortage would get worse in the "second half of this year" and it would be "a year or two" before supplies returned to normal.
The shortage prompted US President Joe Biden to sign an executive order to address the issue. He vowed to seek $37bn in funding for legislation to increase chip manufacturing in the US.
Shares in Toyota fell by 4.4% on Thursday, their biggest daily drop since December 2018.
Have to say, I'm pleased that Biden is seeking to increase domestic chip production. A good move on his part.
Not Toyota related but I snapped a photo of the low inventory of a local used car dealer on my commute. Typically they have a lot full of cars, typically small sedans that are in really good shape.
(https://i.postimg.cc/xJSLZPJr/Dealer.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/xJSLZPJr)
The only lots in my area that seem to have cars is BMW... Everything else is probably at <10% of normal lot inventory
Quote from: Submariner on August 19, 2021, 11:25:01 PM
Have to say, I'm pleased that Biden is seeking to increase domestic chip production. A good move on his part.
Unfortunately we won't have anything up & running in time to help with the current shortages. It's gonna be a few years before new US made chips/semiconductors are on the market.
I drove by a small local used car dealer maybe a week ago and their lot was pretty full.
Local motorcycle dealer had 3 bikes and 2 ATVs on the showroom floor. They'd normally have like 8-10 ATVs and at least 30 bikes inside, and several more outside. They set up some clothing racks in the middle of the showroom space to it didn't look quite so empty.
Quote from: CaminoRacer on August 20, 2021, 09:32:04 AM
Unfortunately we won't have anything up & running in time to help with the current shortages. It's gonna be a few years before new US made chips/semiconductors are on the market.
Indeed, that is true. Better late than never I guess.
I should get some pics from around here of the full holding lots at plants, and the overflow lots where stadiums used to be.
I think "the new normal" in post-Covid economy is unexpected shortages of random stuff.
Stock up on what you need before it becomes a panic buy, have a surplus of cash to buy things when they're on sale, and live conservatively.
Funny to think it all started with Toilet Paper. :lol:
Quote from: Soup DeVille on August 20, 2021, 03:27:26 PM
I should get some pics from around here of the full holding lots at plants, and the overflow lots where stadiums used to be.
New cars waiting for chips?
I foresee automakers going in together on common chip foundries... plus big pushes to vertical integration in general. Design the chips, make them, program them, install them.
Trump's sanctions on China shifted a lot of component manufacturing to Vietnam... and my daughter is still getting horror stories from the friends she left behind there: large chunks under martial law. It really underlines the fragility of supply chains when hit by disasters like covid. Especially when they depend on weak links: second and third world countries that, by their constitutions, lack the resilience to withstand the blows.
Another example: Florida can take a punch from the same hurricane that puts Cuba down on the canvas, & out for the count.
Quote from: Morris Minor on August 24, 2021, 07:40:18 AM
Trump's sanctions on China shifted a lot of component manufacturing to Vietnam... and my daughter is still getting horror stories from the friends she left behind there: large chunks under martial law. It really underlines the fragility of supply chains when hit by disasters like covid. Especially when they depend on weak links: second and third world countries that, by their constitutions, lack the resilience to withstand the blows.
My company is trying to develop a new plastic bottle design with a Vietnamese factory and it's been a nightmare this summer. The project was moving along at an okay pace this spring, but it's basically ground to a halt now.
Funny how the global supply chain works!
(Until it doesn't)
Talently...