Japanese automakers halt production as earthquake impacts parts maker

Japanese automakers halt production as earthquake impacts parts maker    Five of Japan's leading automakers said Wednesday they would stop production at nearly a dozen facilities in Japan due to damage sustained by a major auto parts manufacturer during Monday's 6.8 magnitude earthquake.
   The earthquake, which was centered 140 miles northwest of Tokyo just offshore the coast of Kashiwazaki, claimed 10 lives, damaged numerous local factories and caused widespread damage of a nuclear power plan located just miles from the epicenter.
   The Riken Corp's Kashiwazaki facility, which manufactures automobile engine and transmission parts, was also damaged in the quake and is unlikely to start production again before next week.
   Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co., Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Fuji Heavy Industries and Suzuki Motor Corp. all said they would halt Japanese production lines until the Riken facility is back on line.
   Toyota, Japan's leading carmaker and the leading auto importer through the Port of Long Beach, said it would shut down assembly at 12 Aichi-area facilities on Thursday afternoon and all day Friday. The firm will assess the Riken situation before making a decision to open the assembly plants on Monday.
   Toyota reportedly has a sizable 33-day inventory on hand, and analysts were uncertain about how long a shutdown would take before affecting deliveries to dealers both in Japan and abroad.
   Michael Robinet, vice president of global forecast services for auto industry consulting firm CSM Worldwide, told the Associated Press that it would take a shutdown of several weeks to affect Toyota supplies in the United States and offer domestic automakers an opportunity to capitalize.
   “If it was an extended situation, then other manufacturers could look at it. But this is just a temporary blip,” Robinet told the AP.
   One area of concern for Toyota's U.S. sales in the impacts on the Prius hybrid and Yaris subcompact lines, both of which are only made in Japan and which have experienced tremendous sales in the United States Both models have seen sales double this year compared to 2006.
   Nissan Motor Co. also said it would halt production at several Honshu assembly facilities on Friday as a result of the Riken shutdown, but that it expected to quickly make up for any delays.
   Riken, Japan's No. 1 producer of piston rings, said it was rushing to get the Kashiwazaki facility back on line. The earthquake knocked over machinery, molds, tools and precision measuring equipment. A second factory owned by the firm and located just outside Tokyo was not damaged.