Per reporter: Pei Jianru Per reporter Per editor: Sun Lei
The production of Japanese car companies is still being tested.
On April 12, Mazda announced that due to the impact of the epidemic and other closures, the factories of Mazda's partner companies have stopped production, and some parts cannot be purchased, which will stop production for two days from April 14 to 15 at Mazda's Hiroshima Head Office and Defense Plant in Japan.
According to CCTV Financial Report, since April 11, due to the delay in the supply of parts, Mitsubishi Motors' main factory in Japan will be suspended for 5 days, and the factory mainly produces Models such as Outlander and Yige.
In fact, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and other Japanese car companies have recently been trapped in tight parts supply and announced the news of temporary suspension of production or production cuts. Toyota notified its major suppliers by Tuesday that it plans to reduce global production by 10 percent to about 700,000 units in May, and Honda Motor also issued a statement saying that due to factors such as parts shortages, Honda's Suzuka plant in Japan will operate at 70 percent capacity in April and the Saitama plant will operate at 90 percent capacity, according to the Nikkei Shimbun.
It is worth noting that since 2021, Japanese car companies have repeatedly suffered production suspensions or production cuts. The negative impact of capacity constraints is gradually becoming prominent at the sales end. The latest data shows that in the 2021 fiscal year ending march this year, New Car Sales in Japan was about 4.2158 million units, down 9% year-on-year and the lowest level in 45 years, the latest data show that production cannot keep up with demand.
A number of car companies stopped and reduced production
According to the above report, due to the tight supply of parts, Daihatsu also recently announced the temporary suspension of some factories in Japan. Honda also said that the company's main plant in Japan is expected to reduce production by 30% this month. In addition, Nissan has also recently postponed the launch of an electric car due to supply chain problems.
Image source: Daily Economic News Infographic
In fact, since 2021, Toyota, Nissan, Honda and other car companies have repeatedly encountered the problem of production suspension. On March 24, Mazda announced that its Hiroshima headquarters and Defense plants would shut down for two days from April 4 to 5 due to the disruption of auto parts supply due to the epidemic, following a magnitude 7.4 earthquake off the coast of Fukushima, Japan, which affected Renesas Electronics, the world's third-largest automotive chip company. Affected by the earthquake and the shortage of parts caused by the suspension of production of Renesas Electronics, some factories of Toyota, Subaru, Nissan and other car companies pressed the pause button. Among them, Toyota's 18 production lines in 11 factories in Japan were temporarily discontinued because it was Renesas Electronics' largest chip procurement customer.
"Due to the impact of the epidemic, semiconductor shortages and other factors, we may still reduce production plans in the next few months. However, we will continue to pay close attention to the supply of parts and suppliers, and do our best to reduce the scope of sudden production cuts, normalize production plans and reduce the burden on suppliers. Toyota motor said.
In its earnings report released in February this year, Toyota motor said: "We do not expect the shortage of chip supply to be resolved soon, and may continue into the next fiscal year." ”
Judging from the current situation, it is far more than Japanese car companies that are plagued by "lack of core". According to Reuters, BMW Group Chairman Chiptzer said in a recent interview with the New Zurich Newspaper that the shortage of semiconductors in the automotive industry may continue until 2023. "We are still at the peak of the chip shortage and expect to see an improvement from next year, but it will not be until 2023 to fundamentally solve the chip shortage problem." Ziptzer said.
Volkswagen Group CFO Arno Antlitz also said that by 2024 chips will still be an imbalance between supply and demand.
According to the latest data released by AutoForecast Solutions, a data forecasting company for the automotive industry, as of March 20, the cumulative production reduction in the global automotive market this year was about 1.1584 million units due to chip shortages. AFS expects that due to multiple factors, the cumulative reduction in production in the global auto market this year will climb to 1.8842 million units.
New car sales in Japan hit a 45-year low
The stagnation of car production also reflects the embarrassing situation of Japan's automobile manufacturing industry.
According to CCTV financial reports, due to the long-term "chip shortage" under the epidemic, the Japanese auto industry is facing an unprecedented dilemma. According to the latest data, in the 2021 fiscal year ending March this year, New Car Sales in Japan reached 4.2158 million units, the lowest level in 45 years, a year-on-year decline of 9%. Among the eight major car companies in Japan, except for Mitsubishi, the remaining seven car companies have seen sales declines, with Mazda's sales falling the most at 16% and Toyota's sales falling by 9%.
Image source: Visual China
It is worth mentioning that according to public data, Japan's new car sales have shown negative year-on-year growth for three consecutive years; ordinary cars (registered cars with displacement of more than 660cc) have experienced negative growth for five consecutive years, and light vehicles (small vehicles with displacement below 660cc) have experienced negative growth for three consecutive years.
Japan's National Federation of Light Vehicle Associations has publicly stated that in addition to the shortage of semiconductors, the epidemic in Southeast Asia has led to a stagnation in parts procurement, and manufacturers' factories have had to stop production or reduce production, which has also affected the sales of new cars. "With the shortage of semiconductors and the continued stagnation in the procurement of parts from overseas, it is difficult to predict how long the impact on new car sales will last." Japan's National Federation of Light Vehicle Associations said.
Industry analysts believe that in addition to being affected by the epidemic, the supply chain of the Japanese automobile industry is also greatly affected by the international situation. Under the situation in Russia and Ukraine, the price of nickel needed to produce car batteries has risen to more than double that of last year, which will undoubtedly push up the production cost of electric vehicles. Including nickel, the price of a variety of raw materials has risen, making Japanese car companies under pressure to increase prices.
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