Tokyo, Sept. 29 (Jiji Press)–Combined vehicle production in Japan by eight major domestic automakers in August dropped 16.3 pct from a year earlier to some 440,000 units, hit by factory shutdowns caused by shortages of semiconductors and other parts, their data showed Wednesday.

The automakers’ domestic output marked the first decrease in six months and was below the level in August last year, when production plunged due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In August this year, six of the eight automakers posted lower production.

Toyota Motor Corp.’s <7203> output fell 8.4 pct after the company idled some plants for several days.

Semiconductor shortages and supply chain disruptions related to a surge in COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia caused some 46,000 units in lost production from Toyota factories in Japan.

Mazda Motor Corp.’s <7261> production declined 53.7 pct and output by Honda Motor Co. <7267> fell 44.1 pct.

The eight companies’ global production dropped 17.4 pct to some 1.54 million units. Their overseas production fell 17.9 pct to some 1.09 million units.

For September and October, Toyota plans to cut global production by over 40 pct from its initial projection.