Responding to questions in a recent earnings call, Kazunari Kumakura, chief officer of Toyota’s purchasing group, said the supply situation for semiconductors had been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Every day, we had emergency supply measures for the past 2.5 years,” he said – adding that such measures had become so customary that the situation was now routine rather than an emergency.
“Some of the semiconductors were hit by natural disasters or fire, and also the lockdowns in southeast Asian countries or China that really impeded supply, which couldn’t [keep pace] with the demand, and such conditions still [continue] today,” he added.
Certain Toyota models use up to 1,000 semiconductors per vehicle, he said, and this usage was expected to increase. With semiconductors being made by “many different manufacturers” and with production “divided into different parts and locations throughout the world, even if one element of the semiconductor is in short supply or eliminated, a single car cannot be built”, he pointed out.
Kumakura said Toyota had been increasing the inventory of electronic parts and was working together with tier-one suppliers to limit disruption.
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