Honda Motor Co and Mazda Motor Corp on Thursday became the latest major automakers to say they would resume some production in Japan after halting plant operations following the earthquake and tsunami of March 11.
Honda said it would resume production of parts for overseas use on Monday and production at all its car factories on April 11. Operations are scheduled to resume at about 50 percent of its original plants.
Honda also said production cuts at its plants in the US and Canada would last through April 15. The company warned that output could still be disrupted after that date because of the “uncertainty” around the supply of parts from Japan.
Honda has not decided when it will resume full-scale operations, a company spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman also declined to specify which models the company would produce.
Mazda Motor Corp said it plans to restart limited production of vehicles from Monday at its Hiroshima and Hofu plants. A decision on the resumption of full-scale production of both parts and vehicles has not been made.
A Mazda spokesman declined to say if the parts it is using are being produced by its suppliers or if they are coming out of suppliers’ inventory. Mazda also declined to comment on which models it would begin producing, or how many.
In resuming operations, Honda and Mazda follow rival automakers Suzuki Motor Corp and Fuji Heavy Industries Co, the manufacturer of Subaru cars, which both restarted partial production earlier on Thursday.
Japanese automakers including Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co said earlier this week it would be some time before they could return to full production.
Meanwhile, car sales in Japan plunged nearly 40 percent last month following the March 11 disaster, an industry group said yesterday.
Automakers sold 279,389 cars in Japan last month, down 37 percent — the biggest ever year-on-year drop for March, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said.
The plunge in sales was because of weak consumer sentiment following the March 11 quake and tsunami and the ensuing radiation leaks at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
“People are simply reluctant to buy cars at this time. The tsunami and the ongoing nuclear disaster have depressed consumer sentiment,” association spokesman Masashi Miyajima said.
Miyajima said many people in quake-hit areas were also canceling car purchases.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks