For Toyota and its Lexus model, this December may very well be one to recollect — for all of the incorrect causes.

Ongoing microchip and different provide chain shortages brought on by the pandemic have compelled Toyota Motor Corp. to proceed to chop its international manufacturing. In the meantime, U.S. retail demand for brand new automobiles has slowed, however not but sufficient to repopulate empty dealership heaps.

That is left Toyota Motor North America executives with a conundrum: Do they nonetheless maintain their conventional end-of-year sell-offs — and spend the requisite advertising and marketing cash — if their sellers have no stock to dump?

The reply might be, however high leaders on the firm admit that they’re couching that reply in a prayer that their manufacturing woes will start to get higher quickly.

“I am optimistic the stock scenario will begin to change for the higher,” mentioned Jack Hollis, senior vice chairman for automotive operations at Toyota Motor North America. “With slightly luck, December would be the turning level, and whereas we do not need to over-promise, it might permit us to hold ahead a lot of our advertising and marketing and inventive as deliberate.”

For many years, Lexus and Toyota have completed their calendar years with large gross sales occasions to clear away the final model-year stock. December to Keep in mind and Toyotathon have turn into so ingrained in well-liked tradition that outdoors corporations now promote Lexus’ large purple bows, and the promotion was skewered by “Saturday Evening Stay” in 2020.

“I feel we’re nonetheless going to do it, I simply assume what we do [this year] might be much less,” Andrew Gilleland, head of the Lexus Division, advised Automotive Information final week. “We’re nonetheless going to have vehicles accessible, it is simply not going to be our typical 15 to 30 days’ provide; it is perhaps extra 10 to 12 days’.”

Vinay Shahani, who heads Lexus advertising and marketing, mentioned the annual December to Keep in mind sale is just too vital to the model’s DNA to not do it, regardless of an absence of stock.

“I’ve had sellers inform me that their gross sales reps plan their holidays round December to Keep in mind,” Shahani mentioned.

Gilleland mentioned the luxurious model will alter its advertising and marketing spend and its message considerably, specializing in the redesigned Lexus NX as a substitute of promoting off outgoing model-year automobiles. “The message will nonetheless have that feel and look, however actually I feel we might be irresponsible to exit and spend on the identical degree as if we had a 30-day provide and a 17 million” seasonally adjusted annualized gross sales fee.

Whereas Toyotathon might not have the identical cultural cachet as Lexus’ large purple bows, it’s nonetheless an vital occasion for sellers, Toyota Division head Dave Christ mentioned.

He mentioned final week {that a} remaining “go/no-go” resolution on the promotion continues to be being debated internally, and with the launch of the redesigned Tundra coming on the finish of the 12 months, it is vital to spice up visitors in showrooms.

“Toyotathon is a crucial a part of our historical past, and the sellers nonetheless have vehicles to promote, even when it is a decrease variety of them, so we need to help them with promoting,” Christ mentioned.

“That call goes to get made after we’re slightly nearer — we have now slightly higher view of what the manufacturing and stock surroundings seems like.”

Christ famous that Toyota nonetheless held its annual August gross sales occasion — which occurred largely earlier than the corporate launched its most extreme manufacturing cuts — and modified its messaging considerably. He mentioned sellers have “finished a superb job speaking” the explanations for lowered stock to prospects, so complaints have been few.

Lisa Materazzo, who heads advertising and marketing for the Toyota Division, mentioned Toyotathon “continues to be a superb alternative for the model, with or with out stock, to maintain Toyota high of thoughts.”

“It is an opportunity to have interaction with the client,” one the model shouldn’t be keen to give up simply because stock is low, Materazzo mentioned. “If we do not have the stock, and so they’re keen to attend, we are able to in the end meet the client’s wants inside a brief time frame — we are able to take the order, lock within the specs, get the method going.”