Production and exports by the big seven Japanese automakers have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. Total production of cars in Japan fell by 12.4% in June 2021 versus June 2019 while exports fell by 14.6%. Mitsubishi, whose exports fell by 37.2%, stated there was “insufficient car supply caused by semiconductor constraints”. There is a silver lining though in Mitsubishi’s U.S. operations where “the tightening of inventories due to [the] semiconductor shortage led to an improvement in profitability”. The firm expects “the production situation to ...