temp. shortage of new cars

[shootingstar]

because of the Japanese disasters (plural, now that it's natural and man-made rolled into an awful, dangerous mess...).

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/japan-disaster-sends-an-auto-shock-wave/article1943470/?from=sec453

I can't help wonder cynically, that given human ingenuity if Japanese car parts manufacturers aren't around (literally) right now, then someone else in another country will take it upon themselves...in the name of revenue to be the manufacturer.

So the anxiety new car shortage is just a blip, in the universe of bigger stuff.

[Trek420]

Per the Norwegian news being translated to me by my sister right now the 6.0's they've had today are not aftershocks. Geologists think they may be pre-shocks so to speak on another fault they've been expecting to do something big near Tokyo for a loooong time, over 150 years.

9.0, tsunami, nuclear plant melt down and now this ... please hold the people of Japan in your hearts. Log your miles on Plus 3.

The car parts will take care of themselves somehow. :o

[KnottedYet]

I know that with tens of thousands of people dead, missing, and injured... with entire cities wiped off the face of the earth... with half a million homeless refugees struggling to survive with no food, no water, no shelter, and only the clothes they escaped in to protect them from below-freezing temperatures at night... with background radiation in Tokyo at 20 times normal levels... with emergency workers at the nuclear plant authorized to continue working to 250 millisieverts (5x US workers' legal exposure, and 2x Japan's legal limit)...

... my first thought is how much spare parts for my Subaru are gonna go up.

Uh. Yeah.

Not.


ETA: there are already multiple companies making non-OEM parts for Subaru, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, etc.

[Blueberry]

+ 1 to the wise women who have posted before me. I refuse to even think about cars/car parts right now. All I can imagine are the families of the workers who were (or are - depending on the news agency) working to try to keep the reactors under control.

[Koronin]

As far as the car parts go, it will probably depend on which company we're talking about to begin with and then what part of Japan those factories are in. Also don't know why you can't build those parts here anyway. Besides there are always other manufacturers to buy cars from.

I agree with the others not sure why this is a major concern in the first place. However in an article I read it was nice to hear that Nissan stated none of their workers were injured and all are accounted for. They also stated all of their plants are in the southern part of the country.

[PscyclePath]

Another thought... as Japan recovers from this calamity, they're going to need a lot of those products for their own consumption rather than for export. I can't see them wanting to import Dodge Rams or something like that.

[jessmarimba]

Seemed to me like she was just kind of wondering out loud. Not really thinking of this as a "major concern."

But after spending yesterday in Detroit, I can't help but hope that maybe there is a way this will help them out.

[Catrin]

Per the Norwegian news being translated to me by my sister right now the 6.0's they've had today are not aftershocks. Geologists think they may be pre-shocks so to speak on another fault they've been expecting to do something big near Tokyo for a loooong time, over 150 years.

9.0, tsunami, nuclear plant melt down and now this ... please hold the people of Japan in your hearts. Log your miles on Plus 3.

The car parts will take care of themselves somehow. :o

OMG, I had not heard that there might be more to come! I rarely watch the news and get what I can where I can - though I did take some time to check out what is happening to Japan. SO sad...and I am not worrying about parts for my Mitsubishi Lancer...

I cannot imagine what the Japanese must be feeling. Sure I've seen the statistics, and those are heart-breaking...

[bouncybouncy]

To quote SS - "So the anxiety new car shortage is just a blip, in the universe of bigger stuff."

Does not sound like it is a major concern...just wondering out loud. I can't help but let my mind wander either. This enormous, horrible disaster is going to effect us all in one way or another! I know all I can do is try to see the tiniest of silver linings that occur...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/15/japan-earthquake-2011-sur_n_836196.html#s253895

Prayers and thoughts to the Japanese and all of their loved ones!!!

[Trek420]

Must admit to musing about repercussions and changes from this myself. One of the things I'm passionate about is renewable power, especially solar. Is this the end of nuclear power? So I am sorry if I came off abrupt or even rude because I think a lot about the changes that could happen. What will we learn from this? Time will tell.

I don't think the families of the 2 missing, 5 dead, 22 injured workers are thinking about that. :(

Just spoke to a coworker who has family in Japan. They are all accounted for and fine :) but finding food is the problem now. :(

[Mr. Bloom]

OMG, I had not heard that there might be more to come!

Here's a snippet from USGS.gov This is the last seven days. The number is decreasing though.

Red = Last Hour/ Blue = Last Day / Yellow = Last Week / Size = Magnitude

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa201/MrSilver1963/JapanEarthquakes.png4