Getting behind the wheel of a new Lexus LX in Japan can take up to four years as Toyota's luxury division has a tough time keeping up with demand. Automotive News reports customers are in for a long wait as it may take up to 48 months to get the fullsize SUV. In a bid to slim down the backlog, Lexus has temporarily halted taking orders in its domestic market. Thankfully, U.S. buyers can still order one, albeit the available supply is limited.
The smaller NX is also popular in the Land of the Rising Sun, so much so that new orders will be fulfilled in more than 12 months from now. Lexus is no longer taking requests for the compact luxury crossover at home. Its parent company Toyota has taken a similar decision for the LX's less fancy equivalent, the Land Cruiser 300. However, there's more to the story than just the big demand these models are enjoying.
2022 Lexus LX 600
Toyota repeatedly publishes press releases about plans to halt production at some of its Japanese factories due to the lack of necessary components. Not necessarily chip shortages, but supply constraints caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which is still affecting the automaker's day-to-day operations.
For the month of July, Toyota/Lexus told its suppliers at the beginning of the year it would need to produce 800,000 units globally, with 250,000 in Japan and the remaining 550,000 units overseas. However, the global production plan has been reduced by approximately 50,000 vehicles because of the ongoing parts shortage.
Toyota does expect to ramp up production in the coming months by planning to assemble 850,000 cars on average per month for the July through September period. However, the Japanese automaker remains cautious and says those numbers could be reduced because of missing semiconductors and the impacts COVID-19 still has on the car industry.
Even though Toyota has already lost about 400,000 vehicles since the fiscal year started on April 1, it hasn't changed its forecast for the entire fiscal year of around 9.7 million cars. This goes to show the company is determined to pull out all the stops and stick to its original plan. If it does succeed, Toyota (and Lexus) will set a new annual production record.
