Mazda Motor said on Friday it expects a semiconductor crunch to impact around 100,000 of the automaker’s vehicles worldwide during the fiscal year.
However, the automaker will fully leverage available inventory to reduce the hit to about 70,000 wholesale units, it said.
The chip shortage, which has hit automakers worldwide, emerges from a confluence of factors as automakers, which closed plants for two months during the coronavirus pandemic last year, rival against the sprawling consumer electronics industry for chip supplies. A factory fire suffered by Japanese chipmaker Renesas this year is also cited as a reason behind the chip shortage.
The worldwide shift to remote work and learning during the coronavirus crisis had increased demand for laptops and other gadgets, exacerbating a global chip shortage.
The shortfall will cost automakers $110 billion in lost revenues this year, increasing from an earlier estimate of $61 billion, according to consulting firm AlixPartners. Forecasting the crisis will hit the production of 3.9 million vehicles.
