Nissan updates the world on their post-earthquake status

Nissan has issued a pair of statements covering their part in aiding relief efforts, an update on their facilities and employees, and a forecast on the company’s ability to ship vehicles to other markets including the United States.

By now, if you read automotive publications you have seen the massive loading dock that had been hit by the post-earthquake tsunami which stacked cars up like fallen dominoes – only to have the vehicles then burst into flames. Reports indicated that those were Nissan and Infiniti models and that because of that area of destruction along with supplier shortages, there would be models not meeting shipping deadlines to the US.

Nissan has confirmed that some Infiniti models, along with the Nissan GT-R supercar and the Nissan 370Z were likely to see delays in being shipped to the United States and Canada; although the full impact of the earthquake and tsunami on the company’s vehicle production has not yet been assessed as the automaker focuses more on assisting relief efforts. However, contrary to earlier reports that the Nissan Leaf could also suffer from the string of natural disasters, Nissan reports that a shipment of US-bound Leaf electric vehicles left port shortly before the earthquake struck and those 600+ vehicles will hit the US as scheduled. Nissan then goes on to point out that they have yet to assess the future production of the Leaf based on damages to facilities around the country.

Nissan is also reporting that six of their facilities around Japan have been damaged, with either the buildings or equipment showing signs of damage from the earthquake and tsunami. Because of that damage, Nissan’s Tochigi Plant and Iwaki Plant have suspended operations until Friday March 18th and the automaker’s Oppama Plant, Kyushu Plant, Nissan Shatai, and Yokohama Plant have halted production until Wednesday March 16th.

As Nissan has focused more attention on aiding the national relief effort, the company has yet to get a good look at just how severe the damage is so once production facilities begin getting back to speed tomorrow, we can expect more news on just how bad things are on these damaged Nissan plants. To help with the national relief efforts, Nissan has donated around 30 million yen ($370,000 USD) as well as considering a handful of other ways of helping out. These current considerations including a gift matching program in cooperation with their employees around the world, use of Nissan trucks and forklifts, donation of medical supplies and promotion of blood donation. Also, with the troubles with Japan’s nuclear power infrastructure, Nissan has stopped running their air conditioning systems at the corporate HQ and technical center.

TorqueNews.com will continue covering the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, bringing you all of the information from Japan’s automakers as it becomes available.

Other Japanese Industry News:
US auto industry hit by supplier shortages in wake of Japanese Tsunami
Toyota update on damage done by the Japanese earthquake
Honda issues a statement on damages caused by the earthquake and tsunami
Toyota suspends production to honor tsunami victims, place safety first
Toyota stock trading in New York affected by Japan earthquake