Trucks might run in deep water; auto plants don't. It takes one part to shut down an assembly line.
Honda will decrease automobile production by 50% at all six Honda automobile plants in the U.S. and Canada starting this Wednesday as a result of shortages of electrical parts caused by the ongoing floods in Thailand. A Honda statement will eventually be issued. Initially Honda maintained that North America would not be negatively affected by the natural disaster.
Insiders at Honda say it is anticipated that this interruption will continue for the next several weeks. The proposed December on-sale date of the all-new 2012 Honda CR-V could potentially be delayed by several weeks.
Honda Automobile Thailand – HATC – continues to be shut down since October 4th because of the Thailand floods. Last week Toyota cut production in Japan because of parts shortages caused by the Thailand floods. More problems at other automakers will arise since more than 40 parts makers are affected by the floods in Thailand.
Honda anticipates that auto production will be at approximately 50% of its original plan through 10 November. Further cutbacks will be announced as they are determined based on the parts supply situation.
The current Honda plan is:
- All Saturday overtime work will be canceled through November.
- A non-production day is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 11.
- The CR-V on-sale date will be announced in the near future.
Ford’s joint venture with Mazda – AutoAlliance Thailand or AAT – has suspended production. AAT is located in an area of Rayong that has not been affected by the floods. However, a number of AAT’s suppliers operating in Ayutthaya province have been affected. Ford said it is working with them on a daily basis to assist recovery actions. Ford also said it will continue with a day-to-day assessment of manufacturing readiness to decide when production can resume, while declining to provide estimates of lost sales. AAT builds Mazda 2 and Ford Fiesta subcompacts, Ford Ranger and Mazda B-Series pickup trucks, and the Ford Everest SUV
Toyota announced last week that it was suspending overtime production indefinitely at some of its North American final assembly plants in Indiana, Kentucky, Ontario, Canada and an engine manufacturing facility in West Virginia.
See:
November 02, 2011 – Toyota Continues Overtime Production Suspension at Some North American Plants.
Flooding in Thailand continues to cause adjustments in Toyota’s production hours. To conserve the affected parts, all Toyota North American vehicle assembly plants will suspend overtime the week of November 7.