Chip shortage: Toyota goes basics with car keys

The Toyota Motor Corporation has made the startling discovery that even keys can become excessively “smart” for their own benefit.

As it races to get automobiles to customers in Japan, the automaker with the highest annual sales volume in the world announced on Thursday that it would replace one of the two electronic “smart” keys it distributes in Japan with a mechanical key for the time being.

“As the shortage of semiconductors continues, this is a provisional step aimed at providing automobiles to customers as quickly as possible,” Toyota stated in a statement, apologizing for the inconvenience and explaining that the measure was taken in order to deliver cars as quickly as possible.

It went on to say, “As for the second smart key, we plan to pass it over as soon as it is available,” which was another interesting tidbit.

A major scarcity of chips on a global scale has created a significant delay in the production of automobiles as well as shipping; as a result, many customers have been forced to wait for years to receive their vehicles.

This year has been especially difficult for Toyota, as the company has also had to contend with a number of other setbacks in addition to the natural calamities.

The manufacturer of Toyota and Lexus automobiles issued a warning the week before last that it was highly unlikely that it would be able to produce the 9.7 million vehicles that it had first projected it would be able to produce during the current fiscal year.