Ripples from Japan force GM to slow production

[SpartanDem]

Source: AP

General Motors Co. today said it was halting some production and temporarily laying off workers at a Buffalo, N.Y., engine plant, another sign that Japan’s disaster is affecting automakers around the globe.

GM’s Tonawanda plant in Buffalo makes four- and five-cylinder engines for the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon compact pickups, which are assembled at a GM plant in Shreveport, La. GM has shut down the Shreveport plant this week because of a shortage of parts from Japan.

......
So far, GM is the only U.S.-based automaker to be affected by parts shortages. Ford Motor and Chrysler Group said Monday that they haven’t slowed production but are monitoring the situation.


Also today, GM slowed production of its Corsa compact car in Europe because of a shortage of parts. GM cancelled two of the three shifts at its Eisenach, Germany, plant and closed another plant in Zaragoza, Spain


Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20110321/BUSINESS0101/110321059/Ripples-from-Japan-force-GM-slow-engine-production-Buffalo?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

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I'm really curious as to what part(s) these are to slow or close four plants around the world.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

1. Funny, I havn't heard anything about Toyota parts yet.

[dipsydoodle]

2. In the UK

they messaged all dealerships 14th March with this :

Dear Colleagues,

You will no doubt have heard or seen the news today about the devastating earthquakes that hit Japan earlier today.

While the various news agencies have now confirmed significant loss of life in Japan, we await further updates from TMC on the situation regarding our employees and facilities. We are particularly concerned for the several manufacturing plants in the Tohoku (north-eastern) area. Details are not known as yet and we will continue to monitor any updates.

Below is the official comment from TMC on March 11 (as of 17:00 JST):

TMC has established a company-wide emergency task force to take initial measures (under leadership of Managing Officer Miyazaki). Current situation is the following:

1. Employees
- Confirmed there have been no injuries at the Tokyo head office, as well as the Higashifuji, Tochigi office, Yamanashi office, and Toyota Motor Tohoku facilities.
- Presently gathering information on Central Motor Corporation and Kanto Auto Works.

2. Production
- All TMC plants have restarted production.
- The employees at manufacturing companies in the Tohoku region, including Toyota Motor Tohoku, and Central Motor Corporation are evacuating to safe areas. The situation is the same in the facilities at Hokkaido as well.
- Currently, we are checking the situation of suppliers.
- Currently nothing has been decided about production plans.

3. Dealers
- There are reports that some dealers have been damaged, however we are still investigating the details.

Kind regards
Nao

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

4. Thanks dipsydoodle!

[Auggie]

3. GM could be manufacturing with smaller inventories of parts...

just a thought

[Heywood J]

5. Toyota in Cambridge is slowing down.

No layoffs yet, but a parts issue at the assembly plant.
http://www.guelphmercury.com/news/business/article/502518--toyota-expects-no-layoffs-resulting-from-production-slowdown-in-japan

[PSPS]

6. Wouldn't be an issue if they hadn't outsourced all the parts to foreign coutries.

Bring the factories home.

[dipsydoodle]

7. Wasn't there a post recently

saying they were going to open a plant in Mexico to tide them over ?

[JVS]

8. 5 Cylinder engines? I thought those were only made by Audi who then leased the tech to Volvo