Gasgoo.com (Shanghai April 12) - Mazda will be halting production of the Radiant Ebony Mazda6 in May, the Beijing Times reported today. The news comes as Japanese automakers, as well as the country as a whole, still bear the lingering aftereffects of last month's 8.9 magnitude earthquake and following tsunamis.
Production levels one-half of normal
While Toyota and Honda's factories have resumed partial output, vehicle and autopart production is still severely hindered, which is proving threatening for Sino-Japanese joint ventures. Japan's three largest manufacturers, Toyota, Honda and Nissan, have announced that their current production is about half of what it would be normally.
According to Ma Zengrong, general secretary of China Logistics & Purchasing Net's China Automotive Logistics Association, autopart supply from Japanese manufacturers has still not reached pre-quake levels, something that would affect not-only Sino-Japanese JVs but other automobile companies as well. "A lot of manufacturers are cutting back on production in order to hold out until normal production can resume," he said.
"Automobile companies usually have one month of autoparts in inventory, therefore in March [they] still had supplies," Mr. Ma explained. "However a lot of industries are now in the process of cutting back production, even to the point of delaying introduction of new models." He said that companies would have to wait until Japanese production of electronics reaches normal levels.
Domestic companies beginning to halt production
"Production of the Mazda6 in Radiant Ebony will halt in May," FAW-Mazda Vice President Yu Hongjiang stated. Mr. Yu said the joint venture was unsure when production would resume. The Radiant Ebony Mazda6 (pictured) uses a powder supplied from a factory located only 30km from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant and is currently out of service.
Shen Li, director of Public Relations for Nissan China, said that the majority of Nissan's factories had already resumed normal production, and that only one factory located near the nuclear plant was still recovering. However, she added that Nissan's output still had yet to reach normal levels.
According to statistics, Chinese imports of Japanese automobiles constitute 13 percent of all automobile products, while Japanese autoparts make up 21 percent of the market.
