Earthquake stalls output of many best-selling cars from Japan

TOKYO -- Factory shutdowns in Japan have hammered the country's best-selling export models to the United States, with 17 of the top 20 nameplates still offline more than a week after the earthquake.

Hardest hit is Toyota Motor Corp., which originally suspended vehicle assembly through today. Earlier today, the world's biggest automaker extended the shutdown of its 18 domestic assembly plants, including those of subsidiaries, through Saturday.

Parts shortages and supply chain disruptions were mostly to blame.

Sales of the 20 most popular Japanese import models accounted for 1,092,453 U.S. vehicle sales in 2010. For the year through February, they racked up U.S. sales of 174,667 vehicles.

Small or fuel-efficient cars, such as the Honda Fit, Toyota Prius and Toyota Yaris account for a big chunk of the nameplates. But so do larger luxury brands such as Lexus, Infiniti and Acura.

Production of the Prius hybrid, the best selling Japanese import in the United States with 24,174 units sold through February, has been on hold since March 13. Other affected Toyota models among the best-selling Japan-made vehicles in the United States include the Corolla compact, 4Runner SUV, RAV4 small crossover, and the Yaris subcompact.

The Yaris is made at two plants in northern Japan, the region receiving the brunt of the March 11 earthquake. The 9.0-magnitude quake, one of the strongest ever recorded, broadsided Japan's auto industry. Communication breakdowns, blackouts, transportation problems and widespread damage to suppliers have made it difficult for production to resume.

Toyota, Honda

With most of its lineup made in Japan, the Lexus brand is among the big casualties.

The Lexus ES and IS sedans, the No. 15 and 18 best-sellers in the United States this year, are offline. So are the LS and GS sedans, as well as the RX crossover and GX and LX SUVs.

Toyota expects to lose 140,000 units of Toyota and Lexus brand production through Saturday. About 60 percent, or 84,000 vehicles, would have been export bound.

"For the time being, we'll have to handle it with vehicles already in stock or on ships," Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco said about overseas demand for Japan-made vehicles.

Honda said today it will extend its shutdown, through Sunday. It had initially suspended production through today. All three domestic assembly plants will be closed.

Honda has three models among the top 20 sellers in the United States. Its Fit subcompact is No. 8, followed by the CR-V crossover at 9. The Acura TSX sedan also makes the list.


Japanese manufacturers - imported vehicles sold in the U.S.
2010 2 months. 2011
1 Toyota Prius (I) 140,928 Toyota Prius (I) 24,174
2 Mazda Mazda3 (I) 106,353 Nissan Rogue (I) 20,850
3 Nissan Rogue (I) 99,515 Mazda Mazda3 (I) 13,092
4 Subaru Forester (I) 85,080 Subaru Forester (I) 12,140
5 Toyota RAV4 (I) 69,027 Toyota Corolla (I) 11,306
6 Infiniti G (I) 58,143 Infiniti G (I) 9,816
7 Honda Fit (I) 54,354 Nissan Murano (I) 8,832
8 Nissan Murano (I) 53,999 Honda Fit (I) 8,514
9 Lexus ES (I) 48,652 Honda CR-V (I) 8,408
10 Toyota 4Runner (I) 46,531 Toyota 4Runner (I) 7,589
11 Subaru Impreza (I) 44,395 Subaru Impreza (I) 7,279
12 Toyota Yaris (I) 40,076 Nissan Juke (I) 6,080
13 Toyota Corolla (I) 37,917 Toyota RAV4 (I) 5,628
14 Honda CR-V (I) 37,380 Mazda CX-9 (I) 4,930
15 Lexus IS (I) 34,129 Lexus ES (I) 4,813
16 Acura TSX (I) 32,076 Acura TSX (I) 4,735
17 Mazda CX-9 (I) 28,908 Mazda CX-7 (I) 4,714
18 Mazda CX-7 (I) 28,788 Lexus IS (I) 4,073
19 Lexus RX (I) 23,234 Nissan Cube (I) 3,909
20 Infiniti Cube (I) 22,968 Toyota Yaris (I) 3,785
Top 20 1,092,453 Top 20 174,667



Nissan, Mazda, Subaru

Nissan Motor Co. is also well represented among the top 20 sellers. The Nissan Rogue crossover holds the No. 2 spot, while the Murano and Juke crossovers come in at No. 7 and 12. The Cube compact and Infiniti G sedan round out Nissan's nameplates in the top 20.

Nissan aims to restart production at its five Japanese assembly plants Thursday. But its Iwaki engine plant, which is in the quake area and just outside the exclusion zone set up as a precaution around a leaking nuclear power plant, is likely to remain down longer.

It provides V-6 engines used in Infinitis made in the nearby Tochigi plant, which also suffered damage to machinery during the quake. Tochigi was expected to be repaired and operating on Thursday, spokesman Simon Sproule said.

Among Japanese importers with cars in the top 20 sales chart, only Mazda has resumed partial production. As scheduled today, the company, based in the western city of Hiroshima far from the quake zone, resumed production of cars with parts already in stock.

The Mazda3 sedan is the No. 3 best-selling Japanese import, while the CX-9 and CX-7 crossovers, also made only in Japan, are among the 20 most popular nameplates.

But it was unclear how long limited production would last or what Mazda would do when the parts bins are empty. Mazda has no target date for resuming full production.

Subaru, whose Forester SUV ranks as the No. 4 best-selling Japanese import, is the final brand making the top 20 list. The Impreza also comes in at No. 11.

But production of both those cars is up in the air as well. Subaru parent company Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. has suspended output through at least Thursday.