In a continued bid to produce parts for car brands, one supplier has taken the drastic step to relocate its production of parts for Mazda some 13,000 km away to central Mexico’s Guanajuato State, Reuters reports. The said supplier ramped up output of its Mexico plant by 50%, then airlifts the products – exterior trims for the Mazda 3 and CX-30 – to Mazda’s assembly line in Japan.
In total, the move has cost Mazda over US$5 million (RM21.59 million), which includes extra shifts and air freight charges. This is made worse by the drop in consumer demand in vital markets such as the United States and China. In China, vehicle sales of Japan’s top three automakers plunged by 85% last month due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
A spokesperson from the supplier said substitute production “costs an arm and a leg, but Mazda doesn’t want to stop production and have asked us to keep our supply coming. They are taking on the expense.” A Mazda spokeswoman added that the company was “assessing various countermeasures for swift recovery while minimising the impact on production at the same time.”
While Mexico is providing a solution for the Mazda supplier, the country itself is bracing for a supply crunch. Local officials warned that disruptions to parts shipments from China could hamper the country’s manufacturing industry, so it seems like it’s only a matter of time before production ceases.
Although Mexico provided a solution for the Mazda supplier, the country is itself bracing for a supply crunch, with local officials warning that disruptions to parts shipments from China could deal a blow to its own auto manufacturing industry. Besides Mexico, many Japanese parts suppliers also have manufacturing facilities in the US, Europe, and Asia.
Meanwhile, Kasai Kogyo, which supplies Honda with interior door trim and roof parts, said it’s considering shifting production from Wuhan to one of the many plants it has in North America, Europe, and Asia. But doing so would drive up costs and take months to organise.
The company produces some of the largest components used in cars, some of which are cast from dies, which can be model- and country-specific. This makes it difficult to transport because the dies can weigh hundreds of kilogrammes. Personnel manager Yohei Shinoda said: “Dies take months to produce, up to a year for bigger ones. So the process to shift production of a part from one plant to another isn’t as easy as it may seem.”
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No matter how Game-Changing Mazda is, it will for sure Game Over before launch as Coronavirus is still haunting China & Japan. Moreover, Mazda cars here will soon be Game Over too as Mazda cars will face supply disruptions and economy slowdown due to Coronavirus pandemic
Lame attempt at trying to be like roti john XD
Can’t blame others for parodying this parody of a joke. Its just like using racism against racist.
good move
Malaysia has a very well developed and groomed auto parts vendors/suppliers. This include seatbelts, airbags, felts, wire harness, body parts, windscreen, tyre, brakes, battery, seats, suspension parts which any car maker from Korea and Japan should take advantage and exploit the knowledge to the max.
“This makes it difficult to transport because the dies can weigh hundreds of kilogrammes.”
Freight forwarders cannot ship “hundreds of kilogrammes”?
But shipping parts weighting thousands of kilogrammes is no problem?