New vehicles damaged by the March 11 tsunami sit lined in a Toyota parking lot at Sendai port, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, Monday, March 28, 2011. The earthquake and tsunami and subsequent damage to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant have disrupted the flow of the Japanese auto industry that might affect Japan-imported cars around the world.Wally Santana
Toyota may delay the North American launch of the Prius V wagon, scheduled for late summer, because of the March 11 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, Automotive News has reported.
But no one is certain. Japan-based car companies affected by the crisis are racing to rebuild their production capabilities, but full production levels across all companies may not get back to normal until the end of the year. One problem: car company suppliers have also been heavily affected.
In Canada, Toyota, Honda and Nissan have all been working to minimize the impact on vehicle supplies, even as production has been curtailed.
Nissan Canada says that supply levels to the Canadian market are on "target."
"In Canada, we are pleased to confirm that with an average of 70 days inventory, supply of vehicles is at normal levels which is especially important during the spring market when consumer demand is high," said Allen Childs, president of Nissan Canada, said in a release.
Honda Canada spokesman Richard Jacobs says production of the 2012 Civic at two assembly plants in Alliston, Ont., in under way.
He adds: "Our production levels now are currently reduced due to a shortage of key components from Japan - including electrical parts (e.g. semiconductors, condensers, diodes), various rubber components, and raw materials for plastic and paint, etc.) - but we are managing to provide our dealers with an ongoing supply of Civics."
Jacobs says Honda Canada "cannot fully meet current demand" for the new Civic, but many of Civic customers "have decided to wait for delivery of their new Civic if it is not immediately available at their dealership."
He says Civic production is running at about 50 for the present time.
At Toyota Canada, managing director Stephen Beatty says his company went into the spring and summer buying season with large dealer inventories. For now, Automotive News reports that Toyota still can build every Toyota, Lexus and Scion model in its lineup, although that may not be true by the end of this month.
As the year unfolds, Toyota may turn out to be the hardest hit by the crisis in Japan. Why? During the first quarter of its fiscal year, Toyota made 60 per cent of its cars in Japan. Nissan Motor Co., Japan's second-largest auto manufacturer, made 30 per cent in Japan in the fiscal year ended March 2010. Honda Motor, No. 3, built a quarter of its global output in Japan.
Car companies coping with earthquake-related supply problems are of course generally reluctant to get into too much detail for competitive reasons. But car shoppers would be wise to push their dealers for answers on vehicle availability before making any sort of deal on a new vehicle.