Topic: Manufacturing disruption resulting from the earthquake in Japan

[articsteve]

Chrysler Group LLC
UPDATED: 1:43 p.m. ET, 3/28/11   U.S.:
• 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.
 
Ford Motor Co.
UPDATED: 5:02 p.m. ET, 3/28/11   U.S.:
• 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:
•Will idle Genk, Belgium plant (S-MAX, Galaxy and Mondeo) for five days starting April 4 to conserve parts
 
Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru)
UPDATED: 9:36 a.m. ET, 3/28/11   U.S.:
• Canceled overtime shifts at Subaru of Indiana (Legacy, Outback, Tribeca and Toyota Camry) until April 1; no parts shortages reported

Japan:
• Extended production suspension through March 31; facing rolling blackouts and supply shortages
•Will restart limited mini-vehicle production March 31

General Motors
UPDATED: 12:58 p.m. ET, 3/29/11   U.S.:
• Resuming Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon production at Shreveport, La. plant; shortage of undisclosed parts from Japan 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: 8:57 p.m. ET, 3/29/11   U.S.:
• Will slash daily output at plants by as much as 50 percent starting March 30
• 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

Japan:
• Production halted at Sayama (CR-V, Accord, Fit, Acura RL and TSX), Suzuka (Fit, Civic, Civic hybrid, Insight and CR-Z) until April 3 at the earliest;
•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: 2:08 p.m. ET, 3/25/11   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:
•Suspended production at Hofu plant (Atenza, Axela) from March 28; had restarted production March 22 with parts in stock
•Hiroshima plant (Bongo, CX-7, CX-9, Demio, Premacy, Roadster, RX-8, Verisa) reopened March 28; will continue some production until supplies run out.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp.
UPDATED: 11:03 a.m. ET, 3/28/11   U.S.:
• Assembly plant in Normal, Ill., is running normally; no shortages anticipated

Japan:
•Okazaki (Colt, Outlander Sport), Mizushima (i-MiEV, Lancer, Outlander and more) and Pajero (Challenger, Delica, Pajero) operated limited production March 28; will also run March 29
•Suspending production at Pajero March 30
•Will evaluate operations again March 31

Nissan Motor Co.
UPDATED: 9:25 a.m. ET, 3/29/11   U.S.:
• All Nissan Americas plants (4) open; will continue running through at least April 1
• 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

Japan:
• Five plants -- Oppama, Tochigi, Kyushu, Yokohama and Nissan Shatai -- opened March 24 and building vehicles with components in stock; affects the Rogue, Leaf, 350Z and GT-R sports cars and almost all Infiniti models
• Leaf vehicle and battery production resumed at Oppama assembly and Zama battery plants March 24; plants still face rolling blackouts
• Electricity and water restored to damaged Iwaki engine plant; workers called back March 28 to help with repairs, but no timeframe for reopening.
Iwaki builds VQ V-6 engine for Infiniti G and M series, Murano and Z350

PSA Peugeot-Citroën
UPDATED: 10:34 a.m. ET, 3/24/11   Europe:
•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 Wall Street Journal report
•Cutting production 40 - 50 percent at plants in Madrid and Vigo, Spain; Poissy and Aulnay, France; and Trnava, Slovakia
•Cutting production 75 percent at Sochaux, Sevelnord and Mulhouse, France
•Plants in China, Latin American not affected

Renault Samsung Motors Corp.
UPDATED: 1:50 p.m. ET, 3/22/11   South Korea:
•Stopped weekday overtime as well as weekend shifts

Suzuki Motor Corp.
UPDATED: 9:21 a.m. ET, 3/29/11   Japan:
•Suspended output at (3) plants through March 30; affects U.S.-bound Kizashi sedan, Grand Vitara crossover, SX4 small car
•Will operate day-shift only at Iwata plant (commercial trucks) March 30, 31
•Will operate day-shift only at Kosai plant (Alto, Lapin, MR Wagon, Palette, Solio, Wagon R) March 31
•Will assemble engines at Sagara plant (Kizashi, Swift, SX4, SX4 Sporty) but vehicle production suspended March 30, 31
•Will assemble motorcycles at Takatsuka and Toyokawa plants March 30, 31
•Still assessing situation for after April 1

Toyota Motor Corp.
UPDATED: 9:08 a.m. ET, 3/29/11   U.S.:
• Informed dealers March 25 that they face a shortage of 233 parts numbers for at least 30 days; Toyota Motor Sales will not fill any orders of short-inventory parts to replenish dealer stock
• North American vehicle and engine plants (13) running; overtime curtailed
• Sent memo to workers in U.S. and Canada March 23, warning thinning supplies will cause some interruptions in production; no definite time frame for stoppages
• Prius availability in the U.S. could be affected by damage to a hybrid battery plant; RAV4 crossover also affected

Japan:
•Resumed limited production of Prius at Tsutsumi plant; Lexus HS250h and CT 200h hybrids at Kyushu plant March 28
•Will halt production of hybrid vehicles in Japan March 30 to check for adequate parts supply
•Will resume production at its Tsutsumi and Miyata plants on March 31
• 16 assembly plants closed indefinitely
• Resumed production of replacement parts for vehicles already on the market on March 17; resumed production of parts for overseas production on March 21
• Damaged: The Central Motor plant in Miyagi, which manufactures the Yaris; the Kanto Auto Works Iwate plant, the Scion xB and xD models; parts plants in Hokkaido and Tohoku
•Delayed Japanese launch of wagon-style Prius; not expected to affect U.S. or European launch

Volvo Car Corp.
UPDATED: 10:50 p.m. ET, 3/29/11   Europe:
• Company says production will continue undisrupted through week of March 28; can't predict beyond that; gets 10 percent of components from Japan

[conwelpic]

TOKYO — Toyota's car production in Japan plummeted a staggering 62.7 per cent in March due to a parts supply crunch following the earthquake and tsunami.

Toyota Motor Corp., the world's top-selling automaker last year, said Monday its domestic production in March was 129,491 vehicles -- the lowest since 1976 when Toyota began maintaining production figures.

http://autos.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Autos/20110425/toyota-production-110425/?s_name=Autos

[safristi]

Is it because of Physical damage to Manu Plants OR releasing staff to help in the disaster...........................same results tho'...i suspect the latter...and a wee bit of accountants magic ....

[ovr50]

The Japan problems are disrupting other than Japanese makers as well. For eg. - BMW makes the new X3 in Spartansburg, SC. A certain part for the dashboard screen on a "non-Navigation" optioned car comes from a Japanese firm and is not available right now. So, ordering a new X3 today, you either opt for the extra-cost Navigation system (whose parts are all available) or you wait for production to resume on the non-Nav cars. No one knows how long that wait may be.

My car is already built, and it got in just under the wire for non-Nav cars. Lucky.

[conwelpic]

looks like the effects of the March Japanese problems are now starting to show at the dealerships:

as reported in this article, large AutoNation in the US state this at some of its dealerships that handle Japanese products:

Lexus RX350 - sell 24 per month, received so far in May - 1

Honda Odyssey - sell 20 per month, received so far in May - 4

Toyota Corolla - sell 58 per month, received so far in May - 1

http://www.auto123.com/en/news/car-news/japan-earthquake-japanese-makes-about-to-feel-the-pain?artid=131333

[articsteve]

The shortages range from lack of electricity to physical damage.  Semi conductors huge issue.  Major supply reduction for Toyota and Nissan regardless where assembled because of this.  5000 Jukes pulled from Canada.  A certain red tint for paint is not available and affects all manufactures.  The list is long.  Then to top it off there is this radiation BS that competitors are alleging have contaminated parts and vehicles.

[JSCC]

The Japan problems are disrupting other than Japanese makers as well. For eg. - BMW makes the new X3 in Spartansburg, SC. A certain part for the dashboard screen on a "non-Navigation" optioned car comes from a Japanese firm and is not available right now. So, ordering a new X3 today, you either opt for the extra-cost Navigation system (whose parts are all available) or you wait for production to resume on the non-Nav cars. No one knows how long that wait may be.

My car is already built, and it got in just under the wire for non-Nav cars. Lucky.

Hmm... that might explain why a lot of incoming MB vehicles will come with the Navi option.

[inco]

Local Subie dealer called this week to let us know that apparently the last build of Foresters are on their way to Canada and there won't be any more 11s. The 2012s have been delayed until the fall.

Since the Legacy goes back in August and it's a Forester that is wanted, it is going to be interesting to see how this plays out. I casually mentioned the Focus as a possibility during a Ford commercial on them and there was no hesitation in the response - NO and No Ford....Hmmm I think I am being told something here.

[Erik]

Guy at the Chrysler store told me they are having paint supply issues with the 300 right now. Screwing ip their sales.

[conwelpic]

May 31st from Left Lane:

According to the JAMA report, Japanese automakers produced just 292,001 vehicles in the month of April – down 60.1 percent compared to the same month a year ago. Total vehicles exported took an even more staggering hit, tumbling 67.8 percent from 391,540 vehicles to just 126,061 units in 2011.

While the volume figures are certainly eye opening, when converting the losses to dollars the numbers can be even more jaw dropping. The total value of vehicles and parts exported in April was just $5.9 billion, which represents a drop of $5.5 billion compared to the same month in 2010 – a 48.3 percent hit.

Which automakers fared the best/worst?
As has been the case so far, Toyota took the brunt of the damages as their exports tumbled from 150,118 vehicles in April 2010, to just 31,025 vehicles this year in the same month. Nissan exported just 14,642 vehicles, down 37,623 vehicles compared to April last year. Mazda saw a similar drop in volume, going from 54,387 to just 20,606 vehicles in April 2011, a drop of 33,781 vehicles.

Although not hit as hard in volume, in terms of percentage drops both Honda and Subaru took fairly considerable and comparable hits. Subaru exported 29,682 vehicles in April 2010, compared to Honda’s 27,216 vehicles in the same time frame. In April 2011, Subaru dropped 21,500 vehicles to just 8,182 units exported, with Honda falling 20,743 units to just 6,473 exports in April 2011.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/japanese-automakers-dropped-5-7b-in-car-part-exports-in-april.html