Thai Flood: Nissan Lucky Again

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

When the March 11 tsunami hit, Nissan was first to recover. This was caused by quick reaction and sheer luck. Now that Japanese carmakers are under water in Thailand, it looks like Nissan will emerge relatively unscathed again. The Nikkei [sub] reports that Nissan plans to resume partial production in Thailand from November 14.

Others are less fortuitous. 120 suppliers are reported as flooded and another 120 are at risk of drowning. Toyota has scaled down production in Japan and several other countries. Honda is hit hardest. Its assembly plant in Ayutthaya Province is under six feet of water. Honda fears it will not be able to resume production until next spring.

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.

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  • Aristurtle Aristurtle on Nov 03, 2011

    Hard disk manufacturers got hammered, too. Seagate, Western Digital, and Toshiba all lost plants that make disk platters, and prices have doubled and are still going up. What other industries got hammered, here? Must have been a few.

  • Alluster Alluster on Nov 03, 2011

    GM got affected too. They have suspended production for the Sonic which according to GM is currently their fastest selling car taking just 11 days to sell.

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