The Japanese earthquake and tsunami will affect supplies of greener cars. On Wednesday, March 16, Japanese auto companies extended shutdowns of some of their car-assembly plants.The US imported 1.2 million vehicles from Japan in 2009. The earthquake, tsunami and radiation from damaged nuclear power plants may impact supplies of high-mileage cars made only in Japan.
Toyota Motor Corp. halted auto production on March 14 and said it will extend production halts at its car plants affected by the quake and tsunami through March 22. This will impact almost 100,000 vehicles. The company said it hopes to restart plants that make parts for overseas factories on March 21.
Nissan said all North American manufacturing plants will continue to operate on schedule. However, Honda Motor Co. has suspended production at six Japanese plants until at least March 21 because of the shortage of parts from northeastern Japan.
Cars affected by the quake and tsunami include Toyota's Prius and Camry Hybrid. The Honda hybrids including the well known Insight and the new CR-Z are also made in Japan. At present, Honda cannot get its products out of the country due to road damage inflicted by the killer quake.
Delivery of Nissan's all-electric Leaf may also be undermined. Supplies of other small fuel-efficient models, such as the Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, and Scion xB, could also be affected.
The timing for a disruption of distribution of Japan's greener vehicles comes at a time when higher gas prices have produced greater demand for Japanese EVs, hybrids and other fuel-efficient vehicles.
© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
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