Www.erhsnyc.org



Name ____________________________________Date ___________________Updated: Tue., Apr. 5, 2011, 2:56 AM Carmakers skidBy PAUL THARP and CLAIRE ATKINSONLast Updated: 2:56 AM, April 5, 2011Posted: 1:46 AM, April 5, 2011Toyota's factories in the US got slammed with a shutdown shocker yesterday that could idle up to 25,000 workers while Japan's severed industrial pipeline dries up across the world. As many as 13 Toyota assembly plants in the US, Mexico and Canada were thrown into crisis as word spread that the company might have to idle assembly lines later this month due to a lack of parts from Japan's factories, which have been shuttered by its earthquake crisis. Toyota confirmed that "production interruptions in North America are likely" but couldn't predict how long they'd last or which plants would get hit the hardest. "I'm surprised Toyota didn't address this issue sooner," said automotive analyst Stephen Spivey of Frost & Sullivan. "Japan's auto industry has already ground to a halt and no new parts are coming here. The supply shortages are impacting all automakers here." Detroit isn't immune, since US carmakers use numerous parts from Japan. For example: * Ford yesterday idled a Kentucky truck factory, following a General Motors' truck factory closing a week ago, both due to missing Japanese parts. * Honda yesterday instituted "temporary interruptions" at its Ohio plants, where its Accord, CR-V and Acura TL are produced. Honda employs about 13,500 in the state. * Chrysler yesterday said it is halting production at its Windsor, Ont., plant for one week due to its parts shortage. Toyota will keep open its scores of showrooms, which have at least a 45-day supply of vehicles, on which prices are rising as much as $2,000 on some models, analysts said. The crisis is also hitting media outlets as Toyota won't be spending its $793 million ad budget on TV commercials to hype incentives, since showrooms could run out of cars. Toyota is canceling TV spending, while Honda has failed to commit to second-quarter ad buys, The Post learned. Auto ads generated $14 billion for TV outlets last year in a long-awaited comeback from the recession, only to be knocked flat. "Automotive is the No. 1 spending category in local TV," said Sue Johenning, group director at ad agency Initiative. "It's uncertain whether these cutbacks are short or long-term in their impact on local [media] markets." "The tragedy in Japan and the turmoil in the Middle East has made this a challenging time for the auto industry," said Joan Gillman, president of Time Warner Cable Media. "We expect production disruptions will significantly impact product availability from Japanese auto manufacturers in the second and third quarters of 2011," said Mike Jackson, chief of AutoNation the nation's largest dealership chain, where half its cars are Japanese. "Everybody's in crisis meetings every day.” Did the earthquake in Japan affect American auto production? If so, how? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.What are the different inputs that go into the production of a car built at the Honda auto plant in Kentucky? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.Does it surprise you how much the earthquake in Japan affected American inputs? Why or why not? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download