TOKYO—Toyota Motor Corp on Tuesday posted a worse-than-expected 25 percent drop in quarterly profit and cut its annual output target, as the Japanese firm battles surging material costs and a persistent semiconductor shortage.
The world’s biggest automaker by sales also warned that it remained difficult to predict the future after posting its fourth consecutive quarterly profit decline, underlining the strength of business headwinds it faces.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Toyota fared better than most car makers in managing supply chains, but it fell victim to the prolonged chip shortage this year, cutting monthly production targets repeatedly.
“We’re out of the worst phase, but … it’s not necessarily a situation where we’re fully supplied,” said Kazunari Kumakura, Toyota’s purchasing group chief. “I don’t know when the chip shortage will be resolved.”…