Gasgoo.com (Shanghai March 14) - Japan has seen its GDP drop around 8 percent as a result of last Friday's devastating earthquake. The automobile industry has been especially affected, with Japan's three largest manufacturers, Toyota, Honda and Nissan closing a total of 22 factories. The above manufacturers stated today that they would be temporarily halting all production within Japan, the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported.
Toyota, which ahs a large supply base located across northern Japan, has seen its primarily American exports drop significantly due to the earthquake. "Toyota's car imports have been clearly affected, [the quake has also influenced] its Chinese automobile parts supply," said an unnamed FAW Toyota dealer.
Although Honda already produces a large number of cars in China via its joint ventures with Dongfeng Motor and GAC Group, its Chinese sales have also seen a large sales drop because of inability to supply a significant amount of imported auto parts from Japan.
Japan's third largest manufacturer Nissan has not seen any significant letdown in its Chinese operations, with Public Relations Supervisor of Zhengzhou Nissan Huo Jing saying that nearly 100 percent of the joint venture's vehicles are domestically produced.
