Japanese Parts Shortage

As we all know, March 11 2011 was a tragic day in Japan in which a massive earthquake and immediately following tsunami caused severe damage and loss of life in Japan. As the country recovers, the automotive world is still coping with parts shortages which are not only affecting Japanese automakers. Plants in North America, Europe, and of course throughout Asia are cancelling shifts along with overtime since many key electronic components are not available. Some analysts suspect it may take until November of this year before a full recovery will be made.

So what does this mean for you? If you plan to purchase a car this summer, you could wind up paying extra! Demand for cars has not dropped and soon a shortage of vehicles, especially from Japan including but not limited to Honda, Toyota, Nissan, will begin to affect our market. That being said a Certified Used vehicle may be the way to go this summer.

On a side note, it is interesting to note that Korean automakers Kia & Hyundai have not been affected by the parts shortage. All models from each of the South Korean automakers are still being produced at maximum capacity, and in the case of the Hyundai plant in Alabama, production is increasing!

Japan is doing their best to produce as many parts as possible despite power outages and endless aftershocks. Fear of radiation affected parts remains as concern to foreign markets, although Japanese officials assure us all products are safe.