Japanese Parts Paralysis Likely To Cause Steep Losses

Japan’s carmakers are slowly returning back to normal, hobbled only by unsure supply of parts and sometimes power. It will be slow going and full of surprises. One thing is for sure: The March 11 tsunami will have an ugly effect on carmakers’ books. Combined losses for the Japan’s carmakers and suppliers could “the biggest ever,” surpassing those during 2008 to 2009 financial crisis, Noriyuki Matsushima, an analyst in Tokyo at Citigroup Inc., told Bloomberg.

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Japanese New Car Sales Plummet 51 Percent In April

As predicted a month ago, the full brunt of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami hit Japan’s auto industry in April. Sales of new cars, trucks and buses crashed 51 percent from April a year earlier. Most of Japan’s auto industry was closed in the first half of April and operated at reduced capacity in the second half of the month.

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After The Monster Tsunami, The Super Tornado

Mother Nature appears to have issues with the auto industry. First, a once in a millennium tsunami crippled Japanese automakers and suppliers for most of the year. Now, the most powerful long-track tornado in US history hit automakers in Alabama.

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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.

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Parts Paralysis Hits Ford

Shortage of parts from Japan after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami makes Ford idle plants all over the world:

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March Carnage In Japan

Toyota wasn’t the only Japanese manufacturer getting hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Toyota isn’t even the hardest hit – at least not in percentages.

Japanese output of the eight major Japanese carmakers’ plunged 57.5 percent in March from a year earlier to 387,567 units. That is some 465,000 units less than planned, The Nikkei [sub] reports. Here are the March Japan production numbers for the individual automakers:

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Toyota Production Data Hit Hard in March

Toyota published production and sales results for the 2010 fiscal year. The fiscal is a Japanese oddity. It starts on April 1 and goes through March 31. Financial data will be announced on May 11.

Nothing highly unusual for the full fiscal. Japan is down, overseas is up.

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TEPCO Goes Into Hiding

Advertising on the side of your corporate fleet is a great idea. Especially if you are an electric company and you have electric cars.

Japan’s TEPCO just changed its mind.

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"Enormous Delay In Delivery:" Toyota Production Back To Normal - By The End of The Year

In a surprise press conference that had not been confirmed as late as last night, Toyota’s president Akio Toyoda laid out plans for Toyota getting back to normal. Bottom line: Toyota hopes to be back to normal by the end of the year.

“To all the customers who made the decision to buy a vehicle made by us, I sincerely apologize for the enormous delay in delivery,” Akio Toyoda said.

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Japanese Parts Paralysis: Nissan's Iwaki Engine Plant Back On-line

Nissan’s Iwaki engine plant is back on line, as this video from Nissan’s in-house channel attests. The plant, located some 35 miles away from the stricken Fukushima power plant, was severely damaged by the quake and had been off-line ever since March 11.

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Japanese Parts Paralysis: Toyota Announces More Shutdowns In North America And China

During an intimate round table in Shanghai, usually well informed reporters were harping on the influence of radiation on Toyota sales. I expected the heads of communication of Toyota worldwide and Toyota China to blurt out: “Radiation? What impacts sales is the fact that we don’t have any cars to sell.” But they kept their cool in the face of a hot topic.

After a month-long quake-induced hiatus, Toyota restarted production in all Japanese factories on Monday. In the meantime, the shockwaves of the tsunami ripple through the supply lines.

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Japanese Parts Paralysis: Honda Extends Half Steam Production Into May

Honda sources the vast majority of parts and materials needed for North American production in North America. “However, for global efficiency, a few critical parts continue to be supplied from Japan,” says Honda in a statement. Honda restarted production of component parts for North American plants Monday, April 4 at several Honda plants in Japan. However, those need their own parts and supplies. Therefore, Honda’s component production in Japan continues to run at approximately 50 percent of the original production plan.

This of course impacts North American production.

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Japan's Unorthodox Answer To the Power Outage: Holidays

If The Nikkei [sub] is informed correctly, and given the recent track record with these matters, that’s a big if, then workers in the Japanese auto and electronics industries will be compensated for the hardships they endured after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami: They will get two extra days off per week. According to today’s Nikkei story, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association proposed that manufacturing industries should alternate production holidays this summer as a way to conserve electricity amid a constrained supply.

“Automakers, for example, could halt production on Mondays and Tuesdays, with electronics firms taking Tuesdays and Wednesdays off, according to JAMA’s plan, which was presented at a briefing on energy-saving measures hosted by the Japan Business Federation, better known as Nippon Keidanren,” writes the Nikkei. “On each day, the shutdowns would extend industry-wide.” Honto?

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Japanese Parts Paralysis: Toyota Japan Production On Half Rations Into The Summer

The March 11 tsunami is having long term effects on Japanese car production. Toyota, the world’s and by far Japan’s largest car company, is severely impacted. Toyota just announced that vehicle production from May 10 to June 3 will proceed at approximately 50 percent of normal.

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Japanese Parts Paralysis Reaches Australia. Toyota And Ford Cut Capacity

The waves of the March 11 tsunami did not really impact Australia. But the aftershocks do – in a big way. Toyota Australia will cut production at its factory in Altona, Victoria state, in half for a whopping two months because of missing parts, says The Nikkei [sub].

Toyota’s is not alone: Ford announced today that it will cut back Australian vehicle production by 20 percent, and will lay off 240 workers.

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