Nissan to temporarily suspend production at 4 plants+

TOKYO, July 12 Kyodo -
Nissan Motor Co. will suspend assembly lines at four plants in Japan for three
days from Wednesday due to delayed delivery of engine-related auto parts by
Hitachi Ltd., company officials said Monday.
The delayed delivery of engine control units will affect production of about
15,000 Nissan vehicles at the carmaker's assembly plants in Tochigi, Kanagawa
and Fukuoka prefectures as well as a plant in Fukuoka Prefecture operated by
Nissan Shatai Kyushu Co., the officials said.
Hitachi said delivery of integrated circuits used to produce the electronic
auto parts at Hitachi Automotive Systems Ltd. started to be delayed earlier
this month, causing the problem which is expected to affect production at two
other undisclosed automakers.
Hitachi officials said they have requested that the two companies adjust
production.
Hitachi has so far seen delays in supply of about 20,000 units of the parts,
which control fuel injection and ignition, out of the 120,000 units scheduled
to be delivered to Nissan by the end of this month.
Honda Motor Co. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. said they have received auto
parts supplies by Hitachi, but both added that their auto manufacturing
operations have yet to be affected severely.
Yasuhiko Honda, senior managing director of Hitachi Automotive Systems, said
the problem arose from the ''tight demand and supply relationship'' for the
integrated circuits which the company procures from an outside supplier.
In April, Nissan was forced to temporarily suspend production at some plants
after volcanic eruptions in Iceland disrupted air traffic.
==Kyodo
2010-07-13 00:04:11