Japan loses half-million units in month since quake
Hans Greimel
Automotive News Europe | April 13, 2011 06:01 CET
TOKYO -- Production of more than a half million vehicles has been wiped out in Japan since the March 11 earthquake paralyzed the county's manufacturing sector.
Japan's big seven automakers lost 516,000 units of output as Japan marked the one month anniversary of the devastating March 11 quake. And the total is still climbing with many plants remaining offline until later this month and those that have restarted operating at only limited capacity due to parts shortages.
Toyota Motor Corp. leads the pack with lost volume of 260,000 units at its 18 domestic plants through April 8.
It has reopened only two of those plants, making three hybrid models, since closing them all after the temblor. Toyota aims to bring the rest online, but not until April 18 and then only through April 27.
Honda Motor Co. follows with forgoing output of roughly 58,000 units at its two Japanese asembly plants through April 8. It restarted production at both factories on April 11, but at only about half the normal output rate.
Nissan Motor Co., which has already reopened its five domestic plants and has been operting them in fits and starts with limited output, has lost about 55,000 vehicles. But that total does not include volume lost due to working at half pace. Nissan declined to provide that figure.
Suzuki Motor Corp.'s toll comes to 45,000 through March 31. It rises to 59,000 through April 9, if adding volume lost through half-pace production at the plants it has reopened.
Export-dependent Mazda Motor Corp. has seen 43,000 units of output in Japan vanish since the quake, while Subaru took a 29,000 unit hit through April 5.
Rounding out the domestic makers is Mitsubishi Motors Corp., which was one of the first to resume limited production by rotating down days at its three domestic assembly plants. It had lost 26,000 units through April 10.
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Manufacturing disruption
resulting from the earthquake in Japan
Chrysler Group LLC
UPDATED: 9:59 a.m. ET, 4/8/11 North America:
•Restricted dealers from ordering vehicles in 10 paint colors (brilliant black, blackberry, deep cherry red, redline, inferno red, bronze star, rugged brown, hunter green, ivory and billet metallic) produced at factory in Japan.
•Restricted overtime indefinitely at Brampton, Ontario plant in Canada (Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, Challenger) and Toluca, Mexico plant (Dodge Journey, Fiat 500, Fiat Freemont for export)
Ford Motor Co.
UPDATED: 5:12 p.m. ET, 4/13/11 U.S.:
•Reopened Kentucky Truck (Louisville, Ky.) plant on April 11; plant was down week of April 4 due to parts shortages; builds F-series Super Duty (F-250-F-550), Expedition, Lincoln Navigator
• Restricted dealer orders for "tuxedo black" and three red paint shades; affects F-150 and Super Duty pickups, Explorer, Expedition, Focus, Taurus, Lincoln MKS and Navigator.
Europe:
•Resumed production at Genk, Belgium plant (S-MAX, Galaxy and Mondeo) on April 12; had been closed since April 4
Asia:
•Ford Motor Company Philippines, Inc. plant (Escape, Focus, Mazda 3) closed for 18 days starting April 11; regularly scheduled week of downtime included in closure, as well as holidays
Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru)
UPDATED: 9:36 a.m. ET, 4/13/11 U.S.:
• Lafayette, Ind. plant running full 8-hour shifts week of April 11; had previously operated half shifts April 4, 8
•Canceled production April 15, 18, 25; Toyota Camry line is also shut down those days in accordance with Toyota's schedule
Japan:
• Gumma plant resumed assembly April 6 at half the normal rate; affects Subaru Forester, Impreza and Legacy.
•Restarted limited mini-vehicle production March 31
General Motors
UPDATED: 9:29 a.m. ET, 4/5/11 U.S.:
• Resumed Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon production at Shreveport, La. plant; shortage of undisclosed parts from Japan had halted production week of March 21
•59 laid off workers at Tonawanda, N.Y. plant back to work March 28; plant makes engines for Shreveport
• All nonessential spending and global travel temporarily halted
Europe:
• Opel's Eisenach, Germany plant (Corsa) was down two shifts March 21 and Zaragoza, Spain plant (Corsa) canceled one shift March 21 and one shift March 25; no other cancelations as of March 29
Asia:
• Overtime cut at two South Korean factories for week of March 21
Honda Motor Co.
UPDATED: 9:41 a.m. ET, 4/11/11 U.S.:
• Cut output at U.S. and Canadian plants (
from March 30 through April 22; production times vary with plants
•Will restrict dealer orders so they cannot modify allocated colors and trim levels for U.S. built vehicles in June.
•Orders suspended from U.S. dealers for Japan-built models including the Fit, Insight, CR-Z, Civic Hybrid, Acura TSX and Acura RL. Also affected are a small number of CR-Vs
• April U.S. launch of the redesigned 2012 Honda Civic on schedule
Europe:
•Cut production at its UK factory by 50 percent for seven weeks; applies to four days per week starting April 11
Japan:
• Resumed half capacity vehicle production at Sayama plant (CR-V, Accord, Fit, Acura RL and TSX) and Suzuka plant (Fit, Civic, Civic hybrid, Insight and CR-Z) April 11
•Resumed production of parts and replacement parts for shipment overseas at half capacity April 4
•Resumed motorcycle and power product production at Kumamoto Factory March 28
• Expects product development to be delayed at least two weeks; transferred some employees from damaged tech center in Utsunomiya to other sites; expects several months to reopen center
Mazda Motor Corp.
UPDATED: 10:00 a.m. ET, 4/6/11 U.S.:
•Suspended dealer orders for vehicles made in Japan until further notice; will affect (Mazda2, Mazda3, MX-5, Miata, RX-8, CX-7, CX-9, Mazda5) May allocation for U.S. dealers
Japan:
•Resumed limited vehicle production at Hiroshima plant (Bongo, CX-7, CX-9, Demio, Premacy, Roadster, RX-8, Verisa) and Hofu plant (Atenza, Axela) April 4
•No date yet for full production
Mitsubishi Motors Corp.
UPDATED: 9:53 a.m. ET, 4/13/11 U.S.:
• Assembly plant in Normal, Ill., is running; no shortages anticipated
Japan:
•April 13: Okazaki suspended; Pajero and Mizushima operating
•April 14: Okazaki suspended; Pajero and Mizushima operating
•April 15: Okazaki and Mizushima suspended; Pajero operating
Nissan Motor Co.
UPDATED: 9:41 a.m. ET, 4/13/11 U.S.:
•Smyrna, Tenn. plant (Altima, Maxima, Frontier, Xterra, Pathfinder), Decherd, Tenn. (engines), and Canton, Miss. (Altima, Armada, Titan, NV commercial van) plants down April 8, 11 and April 18-21
• About 1,300 Infiniti vehicles were damaged in port in Japan en route to the U.S.; expects to make up the inventory loss within months
• Currently studying the potential for Decherd, Tenn. engine plant to supply VQ V-6 engines to Japan to replace lost production from the Iwaki engine plant; no decisions made yet
• Informed dealers March 24 that company will follow normal ordering schedule for May and no processing delays expected
Mexico.:
• Cuernavaca, Mexico plant (Versa for U.S., Tsuru, Tiide, Frontier) was down April 4-8
• Aguascalientes, Mexico plant (Sentra, Versa for U.S., March, Tiide) is down April 11-15
Japan:
•Oppama plant resumed operations April 11
•Tochigi plant vehicle assembly to resume operations from April 18; had previously restarted powertrain production
•Kyushu plant resumed operations from April 13
•Nissan Shatai plant resumed operations April 11
•Nissan Shatai Kyushu plant resumed operations from April 13
•Yokohama plant (powertrain) will continue to operate
•Iwaki plant (powertrain) will resume operations April 18 (VQ V-6 engine for Infiniti G and M series, Murano, Z350)
•All plants will operate at half capacity through the end of April
•Resumed parts production for overseas and repair parts April 4
•Leaf vehicle and battery production resumed at Oppama assembly and Zama battery plants March 24; plants still face rolling blackouts
PSA Peugeot-Citroën
UPDATED: 10:47 a.m. ET, 4/1/11 Europe:
•Resumed normal production March 31; had reduced production at most European plants from March 23 due to shortage of engine airflow sensor imported from Japan; affects Peugeot 207, Citroën C3, according to Dow Jones report
•Had cut production 40 - 50 percent at plants in Madrid and Vigo, Spain; Poissy and Aulnay, France; and Trnava, Slovakia
•Had also cut production 75 percent at Sochaux, Sevelnord and Mulhouse, France
•Plants in China, Latin American not affected
Renault SA.
UPDATED: 10:20 a.m. ET, 3/31/11 South Korea:
•Renault Samsung Motors Co. expected to cut output 20 percent during April because of supply shortages, according to South Korean media reports
•Stopped weekday overtime as well as weekend shifts from March 22
Suzuki Motor Corp.
UPDATED: 10:02 a.m. ET, 4/11/11 Japan:
• Automobile assembly at Kosai, Iwata and Sagara plants running day shift only after April 11, while parts last
•Motorcycle assembly at Toyokawa, Takatsuka running from April 4
Toyota Motor Corp.
UPDATED: 10:14 a.m. ET, 4/13/11 U.S.:
•Assembly plants, most engine and component plants will be suspended April 15, 18, 21, 25 (also off on April 22 for previously scheduled holiday); Georgetown, Ky. plant will build vehicles on April 21
• Informed dealers March 23 that they face a shortage of 233 parts for at least 30 days; Toyota Motor Sales will not fill any orders of short-inventory parts to replenish dealer stock
• Prius availability in the U.S. could be affected by damage to a hybrid battery plant; RAV4 crossover also affected
Europe:
•The following plants will be closed April 21, 25-29, May 2: Burnaston, England (Avensis, Auris); Adapazari, Turkey (Verso, Auris); Valenciennes, France (Yaris); Jelcz-Laskowice, Poland (engines); Deeside, Wales (engines)
•Plants closed on April 22 but for previously scheduled holiday
•Factories will also run at a reduced volume during the month of May to manage available parts supply
•Canceled planned overtime at car assembly and engine plants in UK as of April 7
Japan:
•Will reopen remaining production plants at 50 percent capacity April 18 and continue manufacturing through April 27
•Resumed production at Sagamihara plant (Corolla, Raum for Japan) April 11; Delayed shift of Corolla production from Sagamihara plant to Miyagi plant until May while Miyagi is still damaged
•Resumed production of Toyota Prius, Lexus HS250h and CT 200h hybrids at half capacity March 28
•Miyagi assembly plant (Yaris for U.S. export) to be offline until at least late April; natural gas supply interrupted
• Resumed production of replacement parts for vehicles already on the market on March 17; resumed production of parts for overseas production on March 21
•Delayed Japanese launch of wagon-style Prius; not expected to affect U.S. or European launch
Volvo Car Corp.
UPDATED: 9:38 a.m. ET, 4/11/11 Europe:
• Company says production will continue undisrupted through week of April 11; can't predict beyond that; gets 10 percent of components from Japan
