Franklin-based Nissan says vehicle production is back online at several of its Japanese facilities, including the one making its new electric car, the Leaf. As to U.S. plants, which have yet to slow down, Nissan will make an assessment early next month on whether they’ll have the supplies to keep going.
Nissan production in both Japan and the U.S. hinges on parts-makers, which in some cases have been hard hit by the tsunami and ongoing nuclear crisis.
Spokesman David Reuter says Nissan’s been working to get a complete picture of its supply chain.
“We’re making good progress in terms of making contact with individual suppliers one by one; we’re nearly complete with the full assessment and have a really good idea now of which facilities may be the larger problems for us.”
Reuter says Nissan could look into alternative sources for parts, depending on how long it might take to bring key facilities back online.
Reuter says Japanese factories will keep cranking cars out as long as parts last, even as rolling blackouts frustrate work at paint shops and casting engine blocks. The company is considering shipping V-6 engines from its plant in Decherd, Tennessee to Japan, but Reuter says it hasn’t yet reached a decision.
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Asked about the ramifications on the rollout of the Leaf, Reuter said this:
“In the bigger picture this will be a slight dip because of some of the lost production that we had with Nissan Leaf, but in the grand scheme of things the factory was down for just under two weeks, so we feel pretty good about where we’re at and the fact that we’ve been able to get that facility back up and running.”
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