Posted on 02 Jun 2021
In April, Japan’s eight major automakers produced about 2.06 million units of vehicles globally or up 124.6% on year, according to the latest data released by individual companies by the end of May, and this had been the third month for the Japanese auto manufacturers to score an on-year growth.
The output for April was 14.3% lower on month, which was mainly due to lower production from Subaru and Mitsubishi Motor because of IC chips shortage, a Tokyo-based auto sheet trader explained.
“The on-year jump was also to do with low base a year ago when the Japanese automakers were forced to halt or slow down their operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak globally,” he said. In April 2020, Japan’s eight automakers produced 920,000 units, down 60% on year, as reported.
“Overall auto production has been improving since autumn 2020, but the output in April was still 10% lower than two years ago despite the robust demand, as the bottleneck lies in chips supply,” he said.
Japan’s eight automakers’ Apr production
|
|
Total production in and out of Japan (Global) |
Production in Japan |
||||
|
Company |
Volume (unit) |
M-o-M |
Y-o-Y |
Volume (unit) |
M-o-M |
Y-o-Y |
|
Toyota |
761,459 |
-9.7% |
+100.9% |
267,605 |
-13.9% |
+22.7% |
|
Nissan |
281,863 |
-28.1% |
+87.4% |
53,409 |
-22.4% |
+146.5% |
|
Honda |
414,532 |
+0.2% |
+94.8% |
65,794 |
+0.7% |
+23.9% |
|
Suzuki |
266,050 |
-11.9% |
+682.2% |
82,809 |
-14.4% |
+191.4% |
|
Daihatsu |
119,682 |
-14.6% |
+118.6% |
82,477 |
-18.5% |
+67.5% |
|
Mazda |
93,175 |
-26.8% |
+159.7% |
63,570 |
-28.1% |
+443.1% |
|
Mitsubishi |
77,916 |
-31.5% |
+116.1% |
35,120 |
-24.4% |
+127.1% |
|
Subaru |
43,330 |
-37.7% |
+190.6% |
28,977 |
-40.8% |
+94.3% |
|
Total 8 makers |
2,058,007 |
-14.3% |
+124.6% |
679,761 |
-17.8% |
+64.8% |
Source: company releases
IC chips supply shortage has forced the Japanese automakers to cut down on their production in Japan for June, but they will ramp up the output starting July, and “we expect overall domestic steel demand from these automakers will stay firm, and still be a major contributor to Japan’s steel consumption,” the trader added.
Toyota Motor, Japan’s largest automaker, for example, will reduce its auto production in Japan by 21,000 units in June, though it may not affect is sales projection at 8.7 million units globally for the fiscal year 2021 (April 2021-March 2022), or up 13.8% on year, as disclosed in May in its annual report.
Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors are trimming their output by about 30,000 units respectively this month, as reported.
Source:Mysteel Global
