Figures released today have shown the true extent that Japan’s automotive has suffered at the hands of the earthquake and nuclear disasters in March.
Experts have said they believe that the closure of plants and difficulty in both importing and exporting required parts lead to the industries production levels dropping by over 60% when compared to previous years.
Broken down into individual manufacturers it was found that Honda reported a 52.9% on-year drop in worldwide production and an 81.0 percent slump in domestic output.With Toyota, the world’s biggest auto maker saying they were down 48.1%.
Statistics however were less gloomy for Nissan, which despite global decreasing 22.4 percent on-year announced a 4.4 percent rise in worldwide sales, marking an all-time record for the month of April.
But overall the effect the disaster had on the automotive industry has reflected in the countries overall economy and briefly threatened its place as the third largest economy in the world.
Working alongside vehicle manufacturer, the country has 800 major auto parts manufacturers. Who are responsible for supplying interior equipment and parts such as air conditioners, plus some 4,000 subcontractors and 20,000 sub-subcontractors.
In response to the disaster, the Japanese Government set up a 50 Billion Yen (£400million) relief fund to help see automotive manufacturers through the following financial crisis.
Under the plan, the bank will offer the investment to the Japan Auto Parts Industries Association, which will then provide cash for its member firms as well as their subcontractors.