Nissan nears full production power after Japan quake
1 min read
The global car maker Nissan has announced that it anticipates a return to full unrestricted production in October, as parts suppliers fully recover from the Japanese earthquake in March.
The company – which operates Europe's most efficient automotive plant in Sunderland – is forecasting global sales for fiscal year 2011 to be 4.6 million units, an increase of 9.9% compared to the previous year.
CEO Carlos Ghosn said: "Continuous growth in 2011 will bring Nissan a new record volume. The unrelenting work ethic of Nissan employees is an inspiration – particularly after one of the worst natural disasters in modern history. The high level of motivation and performance of our Nissan team continues to be the foundation of our success."
Ghosn added: "With the announcement today we feel much more comfortable because practically our plants are fully reestablished. We are at normal production, and if not at, then very near it."
Disruption caused by the Japan eathquake had emphasized the importance of keeping supply chainsd as local as possible, Ghosn stressed.
"We need to continue to push for cars being sold in China to be made and sourced in China, cars being sold in Mexico being built and sourced in Mexico. Every time we have dependency on other countries, we have very complicated supply chains. On top of what this represents in terms of financial burden because we have a long pipeline of products, it just makes your supply chain extremely vulnerable to any surprise happening."
