Japanese Parts Paralysis: Worst Situation Since The War
“This is the worst situation we’ve faced since the war,” a source close to Toyota told the Yomiuri Shimbun. The Japanese car industry is facing post-war-like shortages when it comes to auto parts. Toyota is short 150 parts positions, which can be anything from a bolt to a complete dashboard.
Dealerships are empty – of cars. Test drive cars do double duty as display vehicles. “We get a lot of customers coming in, but we don’t have cars to sell them,” a salesperson told the Tokyo paper.
Major Japanese carmakers have restarted production at the beginning of last week, but plants are only operating at about 50 percent of their normal output. Toyota does not expect to be back to normal before the end of the year.
Japanese automakers have reported a 57.5 percent reduction in production for March – a month that had only its second half affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. April numbers are expected to be worse. What’s more, overseas production is just beginning to be affected. “
In the meantime, Toshiyuki Shiga, chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, said what many refuse to accept: Japanese automakers simply don’t know what the near future will bring.
“Generally speaking, car makers are in a situation where they can’t fix their production volumes, even though this is an importantelement of their business,” Shiga, who is also COO at Nissan, told The Nikkei [sub]. “We hope (investors) will understand.”
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Oddly, my local Toyota dealer is swimming in cars.
Japan turning to "foreign cars"? The solution: "Imported from Detroit"!
Oddly the Japanese rate British cars which is why Toyota proudly sticks made in Britain on any cars sourced from the UK. So JLR will be the clear winners, and they are so reliable.... ;-)
"There is only one sun and right now it is located immediately over China." So say the scare-mongers. Heres the reality regarding China. Most of their world leading GNP growth comes from new construction. China continues to build new cities in order to keep the GNP growth crown, even though there isn't enough people with enough income to move there and live in them. Check this out and see if you are still so convinced of China conquering all, Mr Vanilla Dude. BTW they only hold 7.5% of our national debt http://www.businessinsider.com/pictures-chinese-ghost-cities-2010-12.