Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it expects global output for February to drop by around 150,000 units from its initial target to 700,000 due to an ongoing semiconductor crunch.

The world's No. 1 automaker will most likely fall behind its output target of 9 million vehicles for the year through March, but it did not provide a revised target in its press release.

"We will endeavor to bring cars to our customers as early as possible by implementing a range of measures against parts shortages," it said.

In September, Toyota revised downward its global production output for fiscal 2021 from 9.3 million to 9 million due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia that led to factory shutdowns.

==Kyodo

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