DRIVE NOW August 2022

Toyota announces...
MORE PRODUCTION CUTS,
LONGER WAIT TIMES
Toyota will suspend production
at nine lines across six of its
Japanese plants during August,
slashing planned output for the
month by about 150,000 cars.
The company blames ongoing
COVID-related parts shortages in
its supply chain, and the everpresent
lack of semiconductors.
Toyota Motor Corp (TMC) still
says its global production volume
for August through October
is estimated to average about
850,000 units per month, and
its production forecast for the
Japanese (April to March) fiscal
year remains unchanged at
approximately 9.7 million cars.
But it’s hard to see this happening,
since Toyota Motor Corp has
been slashing its production all
year – having posted more than 20
production bulletins and subsequent
amendments since January.
Multiple dealers are telling
customers to expect waits of
around 18-24 months on a newly
ordered Toyota RAV4 hybrid and
12-24 months on a Toyota Camry
hybrid – two cars in huge demand
on account of today’s record fuel
prices.
The average suggested lead times
on the LandCruiser 300 Series are
likewise listed as 18-24 months
– we know the related Lexus LX
also has year-long waits as well –
while the LandCruiser 70 is listed
as subject to wait times of four
years, “or never”.
For its part, Toyota Australia
acknowledges the long waits but
says there’s not really a one-sizefits-all
timeframe, because each
dealership has different pipelines.
“Demand for new vehicles is
at unprecedented levels. In
Australia, to support the strong
36 August 2022