Toyota Will Re-Open On April 18. Half Steam Ahead Until April 27

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

It is the morning after a 7.4 magnitude tremor,the strongest aftershock so far, located in approximately the same area as the devastating March 11 quake, rattled northern Japan. Most of the increasingly quake-blasé Japan shrugged it off.

Then in the late Japanese morning, a bit of good news from and for the automotive sector. Toyota Japan will re-open for business on April 18.

According to Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco, Toyota will produce vehicles at all Japanese vehicle-production facilities (including Hino and Daihatsu) from April 18 to 27. On Wednesday, April 20, Toyota will take a break, to continue making cars from the next day through the 27th. Production will run at about half the normal volume. The particularly good news is that Toyota’s subsidiaries in the disaster-stricken Miyagi and Iwate prefectures will also re-open.

After the 27th, all plants will be closed for one week in observance of Golden Week (or Goruden Wiku, as they say in Japanese – who said it’s hard?) At that point, Toyota will take a hard look at the parts situation and take it from there. In the meantime, the parts situation has improved. Ten days ago, Toyota was out of 500 different parts. By now, that number has shrunk to 150, says Nolasco.

The other bit of good news: TEPCO, the beleaguered Tokyo power company, decided to stop the rolling blackouts that turned power off for three hours a day. Blackouts are not needed because “more companies and consumers cut back on electricity use,” writes The Nikkei [sub]. That could change quickly as industrial users go back on-line.

Now for some bad news: The Japanese government ordered industrial and private users in TEPCO’s large service area to cut power consumption by up to 25 percent in the hot July through September months. Large commercial users must cut down by 25 percent. Smaller commercial users must conserve 20 percent. Private users must reduce electricity use by 15 to 20 percent. This will get interesting.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

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.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 3 comments
  • Bertel Schmitt Bertel Schmitt on Apr 08, 2011

    Domo! I put that up just for you.

    Dozo.

    Bertel-kun

    PS: Aren't you glad the bad word filter didn't catch that?

  • Ringomon Ringomon on Apr 08, 2011

    Thanks Bertel-sama! I guess they need some signs now that say: Tensai ni makezu eigyou-chuu! (天災=tensai= natural disasters for anyone else reading)

  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.
  • Mikey My late wife loved Mustangs ..We alway rented one while travelling . GM blood vetoed me purchasing one . 3 years after retirement bought an 08 rag top, followed by a 15 EB Hard top, In 18 i bought a low low mileage 05 GT rag with a stick.. The car had not been properly stored. That led to rodent issues !! Electrical nightmare. Lots of bucks !! The stick wasn't kind to my aging knees.. The 05 went to a long term dedicated Mustang guy. He loves it .. Today my garage tenant is a sweet 19 Camaro RS rag 6yl Auto. I just might take it out of hibernation this weekend. The Mustang will always hold a place in my heart.. Kudos to Ford for keeping it alive . I refuse to refer to the fake one by that storied name .
  • Ajla On the Mach-E, I still don't like it but my understanding is that it helps allow Ford to continue offering a V8 in the Mustang and F-150. Considering Dodge and Ram jumped off a cliff into 6-cylinder land there's probably some credibility to that story.
  • Ajla If I was Ford I would just troll Stellantis at all times.
  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
Next