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Nissan to Recover Faster than Toyota from Quake

The biggest automaker on the planet, Toyota, surprised the industry by announcing last week that full production, completely free from the shortages caused by the disaster of March 11, will be resumed no sooner than the last two months of the year.

As most of you know, the entire Japanese auto industry was put through a severe test last month, when a quake, followed by a tsunami, devastated the country. The effects of the disaster are felt to this day in the industry, and have expanded far outside the borders of Japan.

Toyota says that production in Japan will begin at nearly normal levels up in July. In August, the plants in the US will follow, with full and normal production expected to begin by November or December 2011.

However, not all the car makers affected by the quake will experience the same problems as Toyota. Nissan, who too took a severe blow, expects to make a nearly complete recovery next month. According to company executives, the Nissan operations should be back at 90 percent of capacity in the weeks to come.

“Since we took measures in the immediate aftermath of the quake, we have been able to procure components necessary for our immediate production,” a Nissan executive was quoted as saying by just-auto.com.

Even with the better-than-expected outlook, Nissan has trimmed the production targets for May. The car maker plans to manufacture 80,000 units, 5,000 down from the initial output plan. Outside of Japan, the production should reach 240,000 units, a slightly more severe decrease from the initial 270,000 units targeted worldwide.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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