Ford Motor Co, General Motors Corp and DaimlerChrysler AG said production at some Cana-dian plants will be reduced tomorrow after the Ontario government asked manufacturers to use less power following the biggest blackout in North Amer-ican history.
Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford said its US plants will resume operations tomorrow, and that Canadian production will return "more gradually" because of the government's request.
DaimlerChrysler's Canadian Chrysler unit will idle its Windsor, Ontario assembly plant and run the Etobicoke, Ontario casting plant at 50 percent, spokeswoman Kerrey Kerr said.
Ontario Premier Ernie Eves told businesses to cut their electricity use in half tomorrow to prevent blackouts as the province struggles to find enough power to meet demand.
Canada's most-populous province lost generating capacity at seven of 11 nuclear reactors during Thursday's power failure. Ontario gets about a third of its power from nuclear plants.
General Motors will resume operations at all US plants by tonight or tomorrow and cut production at some Canadian plants tomorrow.
The company will resume full operations at its truck plant in Oshawa, Ontario, and "stagger" shifts at its four other Canadian plants, GM spokesman Pat Morrissey said in an interview.
General Motors' largest operation in Canada is the Oshawa plant that produces the Silverado and Sierra pickup trucks and some car models, including the Impala and Monte Carlo.
The Detroit-based company also makes engines, brakes, transmissions and other parts in St. Catharines, Ontario.
Ford said in a statement that US employees should bring their own food and water to work, as not all plants have drinkable tap water or food service.
DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler unit had said yesterday that all plants in the US and Canada would resume production oper-ations yesterday.
The third-largest US automaker is based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, north of Detroit.
Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co plan to restart operations at their Canadian plants on yesterday.
Toyota, Japan's largest automaker, missed a total of three shifts on Thursday and Friday at its Cambridge, Ontario-based plant, which makes almost 220,000 units a year, said company spokesman Masashi Honda.
The Toyota City-based company makes Corolla and Matrix cars at the plant, employing about 4,000 staff.
Honda, Japan's second-largest automaker by sales, also missed three shifts at its two plants based in Alliston, Ontario, said spokesman Yasuhiro Nakamoto.
The plants make about 390,000 units annually, he said. Honda makes Odyssey minivans, MDX sport-utility vehicles and Civic cars at its plants, which employ about 4,200 people.
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