Toyota extends production curbs in Japan due to COVID infections

Toyota Motor will stop more production in Japan this month due to an increase in COVID-19 infections among autoworkers which had slowed supplies of parts, the automaker said on Monday.

That disruption, which comes amid a shortage of semiconductors, will reduce planned production this month by 65,000 vehicles, 18,000 more than it said last week, a spokesperson said.

The automaker will try to make up for lost production in February, the spokesperson added.

Toyota said earlier it expects to fall short of an annual target of building 9 million vehicles because it did not have enough chips.

The automaker’s business year ends on March 31.