Chinese firms still producing Japanese cars
BEIJING - Toyota Motor Corp, Nissan Motor Co and Honda Motor Co said car production in China was unaffected after the strongest earthquake on record in Japan forced parts makers to halt plants.
Output at Toyota's China ventures is continuing normally, Liu Peng, a Beijing-based spokesman, said on Thursday. Plants operated by Nissan have so far suffered "no effect" since last week's temblor in Japan, spokesman Akihiro Nakanishi said. Honda's Chinese factories have adequate parts supplies to ensure production until the end of the week, said Takayuki Fujii, a Beijing-based spokesman.
Japan's three largest automakers all closed plants after the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and an ensuing tsunami struck the nation on March 11. Japanese automakers accounted for about 20 percent of deliveries in the world's largest car market last year, according to figures from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Nissan buys about 90 percent of the auto parts used at its China plants, Nakanishi said from Guangzhou, where Nissan has a factory. The Yokohama-based company's factories in China can operate without disruption until the end of the month, he said.
"Given that most suppliers are located at or near the automakers' car-assembly plants, resumption of car assembly will signal the resumption of supplier operations," said Steve Man, analyst at Samsung Securities (Asia) Ltd in Hong Kong, adding that this is a positive sign. He estimates current supply of inventories to sustain production for about two months.
Shares in Toyota fell 2.2 percent to close at 3,270 yen ($41.31) in Tokyo. Toyota, Nissan and Honda shares have all lost about 10 percent since March 10, the day before the earthquake off the coast of Sendai, northern Japan. Honda declined 1.1 percent, while Nissan slipped 1.1 percent.
Guangzhou Automobile Group Co, partner of Honda and Toyota, has up to a three-month supply of the core parts needed for production, Scott Laprise, CLSA Asia-Pacific Beijing-based analyst, wrote in a note to clients. Honda's Chinese venture with Dongfeng Motor Group Co has enough inventory to continue production for at least a month, Gerwin Ho, Citigroup Inc's Hong Kong-based analyst, wrote on Wednesday.
Bloomberg News
(China Daily 03/18/2011 page17)
