Japan car output slumps on chip shortage

A chip shortage is biting at Japan's big carmakers.

Output dropped sharply in January as semiconductors ran short.

Overall production was down just over 4.5% on the year.

But some makers were hit much harder.

Subaru said production fell over 29%.

At Honda the decline was almost 9%.

In both cases the downturn was mostly due to the silicon drought.

Carmakers around the world have been affected.

Chips are in short supply as a result of booming sales of consumer electronics.

People stuck at home have been snapping up new gadgets.

U.S. sanctions on Chinese chip factories have added to the problem.

The effects are not evenly felt, however.

Nissan and Toyota both eked out production gains in January.

Suzuki and Mazda saw production fall, but didn't blame the chip shortage.