JAPAN – Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mazda, and Isuzu Commercial Truck of America  provided updates on their operations in Japan and how damage from the recent earthquake and tsunami would affect order-to-delivery times. This is an update to our original article on the Japan automaker plant shutdowns earlier this week.

At Toyota, Gail Kunkle, National Fleet Operations, Customer Services & Administration Manager, said the company is still assessing fleet-specific OTD times but that vehicle deliveries will be impacted.

“We would like to thank our business partners and customers who have expressed concern over our colleagues in Japan,” said Gail Kunkle, National Fleet Operations, Customer Services & Administration Manager. “Toyota continues to place priority on supporting the relief efforts in the regions affected and ensuring that our team members, the employees at subsidiary vehicle manufacturers and at our suppliers—and all their respective family members—are safe. To that end, we are halting production at all plants in Japan (including subsidiary vehicle manufacturers) from March 14 through March 16. This will impact our April deliveries of Japan built products. We are looking into how this will impact our fleet production. We will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available.”

At Nissan, the company said all of its North American manufacturing facilities will remain operational and will continue normal production schedules. The automaker stated that 70 percent of the vehicles it sells in North America are produced in the region, and that facilities located there have a sufficient supply of vehicle stock on the ground or already in transit from Japanese ports. One example cited was a shipment of 600 Leaf vehicles, which had already left Japan for the U.S. That said, the company stated that some vehicles designated for the U.S. and Canada at Japanese ports were damaged. In Japan, six of Nissan’s plants reported damage to buildings and equipment.

At Honda, the company provided a list of the vehicles it builds in North America using parts from local suppliers as well as a list of vehicles built in Japan for the North American marketplace.

The Honda Fit, Insight, CR-Z, Civic Hybrid, Acura TSX, and Acura RL are produced in Japan for the North American market. Honda said it produces a small percentage of CR-Vs in Japan for the U.S.

Vehicles produced by Honda in North America are as follows:

• Honda Accord, Honda Accord Coupe, Acura TL, Acura RDX -Marysville, Ohio

• Honda CR-V, Honda Element, Honda Accord Crosstour - East Liberty, Ohio

• Honda Civic Sedan, Honda Civic GX natural gas - Greensburg, Ind.

• Honda Odyssey, Honda Pilot, Honda Ridgeline - Lincoln, Alabama

• Honda Civic, Honda Civic, Acura MDX, Acura CSX (The CSX is sold only in Canada) - Alliston, Ontario

• Honda CR-V - El Salto, Mexico

Honda said it is still assessing the long-term impact on Honda auto production in North America based due to some parts being sourced from Japan. The automaker stated that it has adequate products from Japan in terms of supply and inventory.

With regard to relief and recovery efforts in Japan, Honda said it is donating $3.7 million, 1,000 generators, and that it will establish gift-matching programs (on a dollar-for-dollar basis) for its associates for donations to the Red Cross' operations in Japan.

Isuzu Commercial Truck of America’s Brian Tabel, retail marketing manager for the company, said the manufacturer is still assessing the impact the rolling blackouts in the country will have on the supply chain.

“What we do know right now is the following, our plant and headquarters did not sustain any significant damage. Both the plant and the office are closed through Thursday. They now working to see what impact the rolling blackouts will have and the supply chain will have in the future. We hope to have a release of information later this week or for sure next week once we know more details.”

Mazda announced that it plans to extend its production suspension at its Hiroshima and Hofu plants through March 20.

“Mazda Motor Corporation wishes to convey its heartfelt sympathy and concern for all people affected by the major earthquake in eastern Japan,” the company stated in an update. “Mazda places the highest priority on ensuring the safety and wellbeing of its suppliers, their employees and their families, in the affected region. In consideration of this, and as part of the recovery efforts underway throughout Japan, Mazda will extend the production suspension at its Hiroshima and Hofu plants until March 20. Previously, operations were scheduled to be suspended from the night shift on March 14 through to the night shift on March 16. Mazda will announce any further production changes for March 21 onward as soon as a decision is made.”

By Greg Basich and Lauren Fletcher