Toyota reports substantial increase in U.S. sales despite global microchip shortage

Despite a worldwide microchip shortage, Toyota reported significant increases in its 2021 U.S. sales.

The company’s June 2021 reports show sales of 207,331 vehicles, as opposed to 148,280 in June 2020, a 39.8 percent increase.

Compared to the first half of 2020, Toyota reported a 46.5 percent increase in U.S. sales during the first half of 2021, topping out at 1,291,879 vehicles for the year.

In a media release, Toyota said that first-half sales of alternative-powered vehicles in 2021 were the best thus far, comprising 23.2 percent of total year-to-date sales.

Toyota has a strong presence in the United States, with various types of manufacturing plants in California, Texas, Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee, Mississippi, West Virginia and Georgetown, Kentucky.

Toyota’s results occurred in the midst of a worldwide microchip shortage caused by manufacturers shutting down due to COVID. That shortage has driven reports of double-digit increases in used car prices and shut down or caused slowdowns this year at other manufacturers’ plants — including Ford in Louisville — because they can’t complete vehicles.

Chief financial officer for Toyota, Kenta Kon, told the Wall Street Journal that the company had been stockpiling several months’ worth of microchips, a supply that allows them to continue manufacturing throughout the shortage.

What caused a microchip shortage?

With the decline in demand during the pandemic, chipmakers shifted focus to electronics, putting chips that would otherwise be used in cars in computers and gaming consoles.

However, as vehicle manufacturers resumed production after temporary pandemic reductions or closings, chipmakers had a difficult time keeping up with the renewed demand.

Kelly Stefanich, group manager for Toyota’s corporate communications, said Toyota saw a supply shortage from the pandemic that “continues to periodically affect production” at the company’s U.S. plants, including the plant in Georgetown.

“While the situation remains fluid and complex, our manufacturing and supply chain teams have worked diligently to develop countermeasures to minimize the impact on production,” Stefanich said.

She was not able to detail specifically how the shortage has affected production and what those countermeasures entail, as she said those challenges change weekly. “However, we are making up lost production at each plant as the supply chain allows,” Stefanich said.

This story was originally published July 8, 2021 at 2:54 PM.