|
|
  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mitsubishi Motors to idle U.S. plant
By Alex Frew McMillan
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Mitsubishi Motors will suspend production in the United States on Wednesday, a company spokesman said. The company is waiting for delivery of engines and transmissions that have been delayed by the ports blockage on the West Coast of the United States, the spokesman told CNN. A labor dispute has kept 29 ports closed since September 29. U.S. President George W. Bush made the first move toward breaking the deadlock on Monday, appointing a fact-finding board to justify any court orders he might later seek. (Full story) More than 20 container lines are rejecting cargo bound for the West Coast from Asia. The Hong Kong Shippers Council says its members are already facing nonperformance lawsuits and suggests that members seek legal advice. Japan's car manufacturers have been forced to respond either by scaling back production or airlifting parts. Airlifting partsToyota Motor, the largest Japanese producer, shut production at a factory in California due to a parts shortage. Both Toyota and Japan's No. 2 maker Honda Motor are already shipping parts to their U.S. factories by air. Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan Motor, Japan's No. 3 car producer, said Tuesday that the impact of the strike should be "minor," assuming the dispute is settled in the next week or two. Japan's No. 5, Mazda Motor, says it has 1,500 cars on board a ship waiting to dock outside Tacoma, Washington. More than 150,000 vehiclesMitsubishi's plant, in Normal, Illinois, makes the Galant and Eclipse models. It produced 165,385 cars last year, or around 13,800 a month. Production will only resume when the ports reopen and normal parts supply is resumed. But the stoppage will not affect customers, according to the company. "Consumers will not be adversely affected because Mitsubishi Motors currently has a nearly 60-day supply of cars and SUVs," the company said in a release. Mitsubishi Motors, Japan's No. 4 car company, said last Friday it was consolidating its two domestic dealership chains in Japan, to streamline management. That process will begin in January 2003.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
