Parts Paralysis Daily Digest, March 30
Our (not quite) daily run-down of delays, shut-downs, shortages, and postponements, triggered by the March 11 tsunami in Japan.
- Toyota will have lost production of 200,000 vehicles by Friday. The Nikkei [sub]
- Toyota says that 300 dealerships out of a total of 810 in North Japan have been damaged by the earthquake. The Nikkei [sub]
- Nissan figures its Chinese output will be about 10 lower than planned in April as supply chain disruptions hinder operations. The Dongfeng Nissan joint venture will idle plants on weekends until mid-April, but will continue doing overtime on weekdays. Dongfeng Nissan has trouble getting parts from Hitachi. The Nikkei [sub]
- Honda will begin reducing production at its North American plants on Wednesday to conserve parts. Honda won’t say how much it will cut back at which plants. The Nikkei [sub]
- Honda’s output at its U.S. assembly plants will be cut by up to 50 percent starting Wednesday, as the supply of parts coming from Japan drops off, Automotive News [sub]
- Nissan wants to resume normal production operations in Japan by mid-April. Output volume will not return to pre-quake levels anytime soon. Company will suspend domestic auto assembly operations from Monday to Friday next week. Nissan expects its production schedule to be behind by 55,000 vehicles by the end of March. Nissan’s production in Japan was 93,432 units in February. The Nikkei [sub].
- Renault Samsung will cut Korean production by 20 percent from next month due to the disruption of component supplies from Japan. Korea Joongang Daily
- Hyundai Mobis, top parts supplier to the Hyundai-Kia Group, plans to cut ties with its parts makers in Japan. Mobis buys parts from around 50 companies in Japan. Fewer than 10 were affected by the March 11 earthquake. Automotive News [sub]
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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I understand that the Yaris line is shut down for the foreseeable future. Which means that there is at least one positive outcome of this whole horrible event.