Nissan to slash Japanese production due to chip shortage

Nissan will idle several of its factories in Japan next month given the brand's global chip shortage. With that, Nissan will therefore be adjusting production and will take other necessary actions in order to ensure its recovery.

Three sources with direct knowledge disclosed the plan with the news website, Reuters. Going more in-depth, although they refused to be identified as the plan is not public as of the moment. Nissan is set to idle its factory in Kyushu, which is located in southern Japan. Reports say that this should happen between May 10 and May 19.

Moreover, the Oppama plant and a Nissan Shatai factory in Kyushu are also affected. Specifically, the two domestic plants are reported to cancel night shifts over 15 days, from May 10 to May 28. Lastly, a factory in reports also stated that Tochigi, eastern Japan, will idle for 10 previously unplanned days next month.

In conjunction with this, the plant that assembles the X-Trail, the Serena, and other Nissan models aiming to make up for lost production granted that the supplied chip returns soon. Hopefully, Japan's third-largest automaker should recover in no time. 

The chip scarcity being experienced by the brand was caused by winter storms as well and that was experienced at a Japanese chip-making factory. Plus, it could also be affected by the increased demand from the consumer electronics industry, given the work from home setup of most people, plus, many could have spent the pandemic playing video games. As per reports, this has then caused the global auto industry tens of thousands of vehicles in lost production. 

While the majority of Nissan vehicles sold in the Philippines, including the Terra and Navara, are still being sourced from Thailand, there are a few models that are imported from Japan such as the X-Trail. With that said, could the Philippine market be affected by this? We shall wait for any further details, perhaps, the brand could confirm this soon.