World-wide ramifications of Japan's disaster

Primarily we must be concerned about the Japanese people and the rebuilding of their country. However, there are far reaching effects that may not be immediately obvious but will have medium to long term effects on the motor industry.

Car factories all over the world rely on suppliers for parts and if one part of the chain falls down the whole system comes to a grinding halt. While clever and well financed manufacturers can stockpile key components there is a limit to how long provisions can be made for.

Without going into details there are a number of these components including specialist chips produced near Fukiuhima that will cause production of many popular models to reduce or cease entirely, including the venerable Mini produced in Cowley, Oxford.

So, what effect will this have? Not least there will be in increase in values of used cars, especially late models as car swappers cannot get hold of a brand new vehicle. This will be exacerbated by manufacturers holding on to their own ‘management’ cars that would normally be fed into the dealer network as they themselves cannot replace the vehicles.

The summer will be interesting for both dealers and customers alike. Both will be frustrated as deliveries are not made on time, neither will be at fault but it will be interesting to see how each react.