Click to enlarge picture
Parts shortages due to the March 11 earthquake have affected production around the world, including General Motors' Shreveport, La., factory, which shut down when it ran out of parts needed for the the GMC Canyon pickup.
Many automotive journalists are beginning to look at some possible long-term effects of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake in Japan on the global automotive industry — but the near-term effects, as currently understood, are in many ways more staggering.
Forecasting firm IHS Automotive has concluded that the current parts shortage experienced by Japanese automakers will only get worse, with significant impact felt in North America and Europe by the third week of April, according to quotes in Automotive News. The problem is expected to be serious enough to curtail global automotive production by up to 30 percent, or about 100,000 vehicles less per day than the normal daily output of 280,000 to 300,000 daily.
A large part of the problem comes from so-called Tier 2 suppliers — those who produce such things as microchips and rubber and plastic components for Tier 1 suppliers, who use the parts for components such as engines and who then deal directly with the manufacturers — a number of which are sidelined after the earthquake.
Read: Quake Hits US Auto Output, Dealer Supply
Many of these parts manufacturers supply necessary components for automakers across the world, such as the now-damaged Hitachi Automotive, which "supplies about 60 percent of the airflow sensors used by leading automakers, including Ford, General Motors, Renault-Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen" according to Automotive News.
According to a report in the Detroit Free Press, which also quotes IHS Automotive, the cumulative effect of halted production could be as high as 5 million vehicles — a number that could be made up down the line, but will be lost at least for 2011. Japanese manufacturers Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mazda are still either mostly halted or in severe slow-down mode. Some domestic brands are already directly affected, such as GM, which halted light-truck production in Louisiana and engine production in New York, .
Josh Condon, editor of MSN Autos' "Exhaust Notes" blog, has covered everything from nanotechnology to champagne and caviar for the likes of The New York Times, Popular Science, Men's Journal, Cargo and RL Magazine. He's recently relocated from Brooklyn, N.Y., to Los Angeles and is spending way, way more time in his car as a result.