Japan and impact to Subaru?

Where does Subaru have manufacturing plants in Japan? Has anyone read about an impacts to Subaru? I know a lot of the cars are assembled outside of Japan, but I know there are tons of parts that come from Japan and was wondering about the impact to Subaru.

It is horrible about the people, etc., but this posting and associated interest is about Subaru, it manufacturing process, and the impact to the business.

I just flew to Taiwan and this has been on the news since I've been off the plane. News said many auto manufactures are affected, but they are not releasing exactly which yet. I don't think Subaru's factories are affected because Ota, Gunma is still West of the effected area, but I am guessing that shipping could be the problem cuz major roads/transportation are affected.

What is the concern now is that nuclear plant, latest news says its major and backup cooling systems failed and Japanese/US Military are sending help to try and cool it down. About 190 people are affected by radiation and 39,000 people are evacuated. If they are unable to fix the system in time, it could cause a nuclear meltdown which will be catastrophic.

I just flew to Taiwan and this has been on the news since I've been off the plane.

Well, Taiwan and Japan have long had close ties. Many people, myself included, have extended family in Japan. Then there are the prevailing northerly winds which could potentially bring fallout toward Taiwan. Small wonder people here are concerned.

MotorTrend has mentioned Toyota, Nissan, and Honda being affected. Honda also lost an employee in the disaster.

Yup, just saw that on the news, 3 major auto makers, Toyota Nissan and Honda's plants operations have all be halted. I believe this should include Subaru because they cannot produce if they are unable to ship.

Well, Taiwan and Japan have long had close ties. Many people, myself included, have extended family in Japan. Then there are the prevailing northerly winds which could potentially bring fallout toward Taiwan. Small wonder people here are concerned.

Fallout to Taiwan chance is less than 1% due to weather, and I hope it doesn't happen cuz I happen to be in Taiwan.

If they are unable to fix the cooling system, theres a chance that the core could be melted and cause major fallout.

Sony just halted production to 6 of their plants in Japan, along with several other electronic device companies.

Fallout to Taiwan chance is less than 1% due to weather, and I hope it doesn't happen cuz I happen to be in Taiwan.

Yeah, luckily that low pressure system is turning the seasonal north-easterly around. In usual conditions we would get a good whiff of whatever comes out of that plant...

Oh well, off to the airport now to get my sister-in-law, if she was able to make her plane out of Tokyo.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/03/japan-quake-big-automakers-hit-little-guys-spared-except-subaru/

Was watching live NHK world japanese news and it has been confirmed... Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi, and Fuji Heavy Industries productions have all be stopped.

(FHI = Subaru)

theres more important things than building cars right now.

the amount of destruction is unbelievable.

my cousin is stationed over there and we couldn't contact him until today (through facebook of all things) because they had no power.

god bless the people of Japan. two weeks ago we were all so happy about Mitsubishi stoping the Evo production, now its not certain if even more Japanese makes will go out of existence. thats just hypothetical rant.

but seriously, my father is in the business of producing "production machines" if any of the factories were hit by the tsunami, most of their capital goods are destroyed:

Pvc injection molds have probably floated away,

Pvc Injection machines themselves are most likely bad (wiring/electronics)

Cnc machines are probably toast due to electrical computers, also even though they weigh over 2,000 lbs, they definitely bobbed in the water like most trucks you saw on tv.

its not just that they cant work in the factory because of mold, flood water, or lack of electricity. their capital goods, as in machines used to produce automotive goods are most likely destroyed.

edit:

just an observation, make of it what you will, i visit Japaneseusedcars.com often,

On the day before the Earthquake there was 33,### cars for auction, 3/13, 2 days after there's 42,###.

Like Naimouasta said,

"theres more important things than building cars right now"

to end on a positive note,

a roman ceaser burned down Rome only to rebuild it.

theres more important things than building cars right now.

 

/\ + 100,000,000,00

Early on when I watched the news and saw the devastation I was like

Now when i watch it's just :(

I know FHI closed all 5 of their factories in Japan..

talked to my Japanese friend the night before, he was irony "we will recover soon, it will take a little bit time, but not very long"

god bless Japan and their Samurai spirit

Consindering the sales volume of Subaru, I would say they may be unable to meet demand by 1 car less off the line

And if that car were a Tribeca, nothing was lost

I know FHI closed all 5 of their factories in Japan..

talked to my Japanese friend the night before, he was irony "we will recover soon, it will take a little bit time, but not very long"

god bless Japan and their Samurai spirit

So I am new to Subaru and am wondering what this does to the Legacy? As I understand it they are made in Indiana. I assume with parts from Japan.

Just curious because I have one on order and as of last week there has not been a VIN established for it.

Is it safe to say that I am going to be up the creek and waiting a loooooong time?

saw this on subaru's facebook page

http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/161940_101616856688_1462304_q.jpgSubaru of America, Inc.

Thank you for your thoughts about our colleagues in Japan. All employees from our parent company are safe and Subaru plants have not been seriously damaged.

 

So I am new to Subaru and am wondering what this does to the Legacy? As I understand it they are made in Indiana. I assume with parts from Japan.

 

Just curious because I have one on order and as of last week there has not been a VIN established for it.

 

Is it safe to say that I am going to be up the creek and waiting a loooooong time?

I believe they are assembled in the Toyota plant in indiana and I think your order should be fine cuz they always have 1-2 month parts in stock. Subaru should share some parts with toyota so if you were to order one today, it could be a problem.

saw this on subaru's facebook page

"...Subaru plants have not been seriously damaged."

I believe they are assembled in the Toyota plant in indiana

I beleive Toyota actually assembles some of their cars in the SIA plant owned by SOA - http://www.subaru-sia.com/

semantics.. I know

But as many have mentioned, I beleive a lot of the parts come from Japan, whether they be Toyota or FHI parts.

This devestation is going to have a huge global impact, moreso than I think many realize (myself included)

Japan pumped/printed 15,000,000,000 yen into their economy to help with the rebuild, this might also effect the future cost of parts.

also im wondering what is going to happen with the release date of the toyoburu?!?!

There is going to be several factors at play here.

1) Power. They are short of power in Japan - those nuclear reactors were relatively important in terms of generating electricity for the Tokyo area. Because they are down (and probably out), they have been implementing rolling blackouts in the greater Tokyo area. Many factories are shutting down for that reason alone. Temporarily.

2) Damage. The quake and it's aftershocks did damage buildings throughout many areas. Some was minor, some major. If there was even minor damage, it's likely they would shut down the operations for a few days to inspect everything.

3) Parts. Cars are a sum of a whole bunch of small parts. Because of Subaru's ties with Toyota, more and more parts from Toyota subsidiaries were/are being used in Subaru models. With Toyota factories and general operations being hit hard by the crisis, they've likely lost access to many small but important parts.

It is likely they have at least a month's worth of those parts on hand, but Subaru has to look at the longer term picture, and plan things around 4-5 months of possible shortages, power issues, and anything else that crops up.

Regards,

Paul Hansen

http://www.avoturboworld.com

The situation in Japan will not only have an impact on Japanese car manufacturers. Volvo and Saab are also getting components from Japan, and Volvo Cars will only be able to produce cars for a week before lack of components stops the production.

And I suspect that many other car manufacturers faces the same problem.

....this is a bit off topic but I'll add my information tot he pot.

I work in manufacturing and we source many of our cast/machined metal parts from Asia companies. While most of the suppliers are Chinese, many of our shipments route through Japan. The lack of power and organization caused by the quake and ensuing aftermath has pushed out our delivery dates as much as 2 weeks at the moment. We expect further delays....

I can only imagine the fallout (unintended pun) within the manufacturing industry as this disaster unfolds....

off topic, http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2011/03/13/sendai_110033754_540x321.JPG

is it a Leggy in this picture?

subaru is assemble in the US but all or most of the parts came from japan ...

For the vehicles manufactured in SIA, Legacy, Outback, & Tribeca, about 35% of parts come from Japan, with 55% being US/Canada.