Oh, what a feeling!

After holding strong for months, Toyota expects to miss its global production target as the automaker capitulates to the double whammy of parts shortages and the pandemic. The shortage of semiconductors is starting to bite, with Toyota cutting worldwide production of its vehicles in February by 1,500 or 15% of its production.

During the previous Japanese financial year (1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021) – which saw the worst of the pandemic, Toyota built 8.18 million vehicles worldwide. Toyota expects to fall short of an annual target to build nine million vehicles by 31 March because a shortage of chips means it cannot make up for production lost to COVID-19 supply chain disruptions last year.

Australian buyers of the Toyota Corolla, RAV4, Camry, Yaris, Yaris Cross, C-HR and various Lexus vehicles will now wait even longer than expected for their new car. In 2022, Toyota Australia is looking to beat the 223,600 cars it sold in 2021. However, the extent of the latest February production cuts on Toyota Australia's operations remains to be seen.

So if you want a new Toyota, you will have to wait longer. Toyota has conceded that three-quarters of its models have average wait lists of up to six months, while big-volume models such as the LandCruiser 70 and RAV4 Hybrid have average wait times across the dealer network 9-10 months. Oh, what a feeling! Toyota.

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