With the closure of Japan’s last operating nuclear power plant hitting the news over the weekend,  people asked me what that means for Japan’s auto industry. My answer: Nothing.  The shutdown of the first nukes on March 11 a year ago was much more dangerous than the long scheduled downing of the last. Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn sees a much bigger danger: the power of the yen. The high yen at the currency exchange. And higher yen numbers on the electricity bill. (Read More…)

Suzuki is not buying into the „once in a millennium tsunami.â€� Suzuki has a lot of its production near the waterfront in Japan’s Tokai region. Scientists give the area between Toyko and Nagoya an 87 percent chance of getting hit by an earthquake with a magnitude of about 8 within the next 30 years. Suzuki’s answer: Let’s get out of here, fast. (Read More…)

According to The Nikkei [sub] “Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it will start offering on Thursday a free application for smartphones that sounds an alarm if the user’s home electricity use reaches a preset level.â€� Don’t believe it. The Nikkei made it up. (Read More…)

Japanese carmakers are battling the power shortages after the March 11 tsunami. Often, they are asked why they didn’t move more of their production abroad, like to China. A lot of them did, only to face bigger power problems in China. China is heading for what Reuters calls “its worst power shortage since 2004.â€� While the lights stay on in Japan, cities in Southern and Eastern China have regular blackouts. (Read More…)