Subaru 'Walking on a Tightrope' After Shanghai Lockdown, CEO Says

By Chieko Tsuneoka

TOKYO--The Shanghai lockdown is forcing Subaru Corp. to reassess production volume every week or sometimes almost daily, according to Chief Executive Tomomi Nakamura.

"We've been continually walking on a tightrope," Mr. Nakamura said Thursday.

Subaru had to shut factories in Japan for two days in April. Still, the company said it expects production losses to be recovered in the second half of the year ending March 2023.

The auto maker expects to produce 1 million vehicles in the fiscal year, up 37.5% from 727,000 the previous fiscal year.

Meanwhile, the lack of inventory at U.S. auto dealers, a problem since last year, is getting worse, according to Subaru. Mr. Nakamura said Subaru dealers in the U.S. had only about 5,000 vehicles on hand at the end of April, equivalent to three or four days of sales, and 50,000 cars on back order.

It is something "we've never experienced," Mr. Nakamura said, and "we hope to get out of this extreme situation as soon as possible."

Write to Chieko Tsuneoka at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 12, 2022 06:07 ET (10:07 GMT)

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