Production lines halt worldwide as 600,000 vehicles may be lost by the end of this month due to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

On March 24^th, the count was 320,000 vehicles worldwide and this will continue to escalate as manufacturers begin to run out of parts and there is no confirmation of when the supplies will come in.

Many car makers have lost large amounts of vehicles which of course affect the profitability. The world’s largest automaker, Toyota Motor Corp., has lost 140,000 vehicles, Honda Motor Co. has lost 46,600 and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. lost 15,000.
Mazda Plants

The Mazda2, Mazda3, CX-9, CX-7, MX-5 and RX-8 are made in Japan, but due to the disaster it is very difficult to get new parts and therefore production of new models have been stopped at the Hiroshima and Hofu plants.

Merck KGaA’s factory was damaged as it is only 45km from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant. It is not clear when workers can re-enter and resume work; however it will take four to eight weeks to begin production once they can get back in.

Chrysler restrictions

Due to a potential shortage, Chrysler has had to limit the dealers’ orders just in case. A spokesperson from Chrysler stated that there are enough vehicles and this step is taken as a precautionary measure.

Vehicle Sales Drop

Due to the uncertainty of when Japan can recover from this disaster and car factories can begin production again, many automakers are unable to produce as many cars as they like, which in turn will affect sales and profitability. Customers will not want to have to wait for new models and could therefore take their business elsewhere.

People may think that just because this disaster occurred in another country, it doesn’t affect theirs, but it does and will for a long time.