1:56 pm, March 19, 2011
BMW is still unsure whether the disaster in Japan will affect production of its models.
The firm’s UK managing director Tim Abbott told Car Dealer it was simply too early to tell what affect, if any, the disaster will have on production.
However, it is clear the manufacturer is worried – as are many others – because vital microprocessor components which feature heavily in cars are predominately made in the worst affected area of Japan.
‘Our thoughts are with those affected,’ he said. ‘BMW has repatriated 50 employees based in Japan already. What affect the disaster will have on production is still unclear.
‘What we are sure of though is that this will affect everybody. There will be ramifications for us all. Microprocessors play an important part in a lot of components. One important one is gearboxes – you can’t have an automatic gearbox without one and that means the car can’t be built.’
Other manufacturers have been seriously affected already. Toyota has stopped all overtime at its factories in the UK to scale back production and the launch of the Nissan Leaf could be seriously affected as it is built in Japan. Only a delivery for the US made it out before the earthquake struck.
Abbott told us that the firm’s procurement team is working frantically to ensure the supply of parts is affected as little as possible.
‘We don’t know whether production of these parts can be shifted to other parts of the world,’ he said. ‘It’s a little too early to say at the moment what exactly will happen. Supply is ok for seven to 10 days, as that’s a typical supply chain time frame, but after that we don’t know.
‘A result of the recession was that we don’t carry lots of stock. Production could be disrupted by this, that’s for sure.’
