Japanese automakers plan to resume their domestic output gradually at plants halted for more than a week after a massive earthquake and tsunami.
While the bulk of Japan's auto plants were not in the northeastern region hit hardest by the 9.0-magnitude quake, the supply of auto parts has been disrupted.
That's now affecting production at non-Japanese automakers, too. General Motors Co. has suspended truck output in Shreveport, La., and is curtailing production at two European plants because of parts shortages.
Paris-based Renault SA is reducing some production that had been scheduled at a South Korean plant because of missing parts made in Japan.
Japan's automakers are working with their suppliers to restore the production and shipment of parts.
"As the delivery of parts will take some time to be re-established, our plants, except for the Iwaki engine plant, will be partially operational," Nissan said today in a statement.
Five of its Japanese plants will resume production of parts for overseas plants and for repairs on Monday. They are scheduled to resume vehicle production starting on Thursday "while investory of supplies lasts," Nissan said.
Toyota also is scheduled to resume production on Monday of parts for its overseas plants, which normally account for more than half of its global output.
Its U.S. plants have been running on two shifts, although overtime has been cancelled.
Toyota and Honda Motor Co. have not said when they will start making vehicles in Japan again. Toyota has said its domestic vehicle production is halted until at least Wednesday, and Honda's auto output will not resume before Thursday.
In a note to Honda's U.S. dealers asking them to postpone vehicle orders, a senior U.S.-based sales executive said it wasn't clear how quickly production would return to normal levels.
"At this time, we have enough information concerning our suppliers to conclude that the flow of parts to our Japanese production facilities will be somewhat disrupted," wrote John Mendel, executive vice president at American Honda.
"We cannot say with certainty when those production plants will return to their full capacity."
Itay Michaeli, an auto analyst at Citi Investment Research & Analysis, said automakers would be able to make up short-term disruptions in production by scheduling additional shifts later in the year.
For now, the situation seems fluid, he said. "Though we have yet to see major production shutdowns in North America, conversations with automakers suggest that the situation is very much day-to-day, or at best, week-to-week," he wrote in a research note.
Damaged facilities in the quake-ravaged region, such as Nissan's Iwake engine plant, will take time to start up. "With aftershocks still heavily impacting the region and infrastructure reestablishment still continuing, restoration is expected to take longer than the other plants," Nissan said.
After assessing its 110 suppliers in the affected region, Honda said around a third would not be able to resume operations for more than a week.
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