Supplies of Japanese autos slowly rebuilding
July 28, 2011 •Shortage of auto parts after the earthquake and tsunami
The devastating earthquake and the ferocious tsunami have really hit Japan hard. The Japanese industry in general incurred huge losses. The Japanese automobile industry has been hit like never before with many of the car factories damaged severely. The backlog of orders grew manifold because all the major car and truck makers had to cut their production by half. With the peak selling season going on, the major Japanese automobile brands are still facing shortage of car and truck parts and accessories.
The new Honda Civic, Toyota Prius hybrid, and 4Runner SUV which were supposed to dominate the peak selling season are nowhere to be found. Recently, Toyota and Honda informed their dealers that full production at all their manufacturing plants would start in September. This is a good two months ahead of the original schedule. This news has been welcomed by all the dealers. Industry sources estimate that large car makers like Infiniti, Nissan, Honda, Lexus and Toyota have lost a whopping 200,000 car sales in the United States, since the earthquake struck in March. The financial loss is estimated at $6 billion.
Japanese car manufacturers have devised an aggressive sales strategy in order to cover the huge losses incurred. Attractive incentives are also being offered to boost the sales campaign. Japanese automakers fear that they may not be able to reclaim the lost share. This is mainly because the consumers have a wide range of options available while buying a car. The once famous brand loyalty by the consumers has greatly reduced and the consumer tastes also varies from time to time.
For the next two months, the prices of Japanese branded cars are expected to be high and the supplies are likely to be very tight. The prices of used cars are also at an all time high making it very difficult for the consumer to choose. With very few new branded cars hitting the market, the demand for used cars is going to increase and the prices of used cars are definitely going to stay high. Even the availability of used cars and trucks is at an all time low.
Many dealers feel that the situation could get worse, if the new cars become fewer. This would prompt the Japanese car brand dealers to sell only expensive used cars and service work to compensate for their losses due to a dip in new car sales.
The dealers may not receive their optimum allocation of cars until November, even if the production begins in September. The dealers are optimistic that Toyota and Honda would aggressively launch their sales campaign to make up for lost sales by offering plenty of incentives and deals. The sales in the fourth quarter are expected to be much stronger along with the incentives offered. The high price of used cars is also expected to drive the consumers to buy new cars.
Toyota is a little more optimistic and upbeat about its recovery than Nissan or Honda. By next month, Toyota expects its North American Production to reach eighty percent of its original capacity. The month of August is expected to be tough. But, both the car makers and dealers are optimistic that sales would definitely start improving from the fourth quarter.
Tags: japanese auto parts


AB Volvo had gained majority ownership of one of Japan’s top selling brands, UD Trucks Corporation Japan, back in March 2007. The change in logo in 2011 marks the completion of the re-branding program initiated last year.
As per the views expressed by the top management of UD Trucks, this move to move the production of light duty trucks to Nissan Shatai would allow UD Trucks to concentrate on heavy duty and medium duty trucks. For manufacturing light-duty pickup trucks for the overseas market, UD Trucks would however maintain its own assembly lines.
First of all, when Quon was launched in 2004, it was the first truck in the world which was equipped with Urea SCR technology for achieving degree of exhaust emissions much below that specified by the Euro-4 emission standards. Nissan Diesel Quon also complied with the more stringent Japanese emission standards a year ahead of its implementation in October 2005 – thus achieving the reductions of CO2 levels specified in the Kyoto Protocol.







