Ford is not a Japanese car maker and does not have a single manufacture in Japan, yet still they are seeing a dark cloud in the going concern of 2011 for their operation and sales in Asia. Could there be possibly a different case for car distributor reps in Asia, more precisely worded as they do not even build up the cars on their own, which simply just sell Japanese cars and are dependant wholly upon Japanese supply chain as part of the car make quality assurance?
As covered in the Wall Street Journal, yesterday, April 12, 2011: Ford is being pushed lower ahead of the bell on word that it expects to reduce or even halt certain Asia-Pacific operations because of disruptions to material and component supplies from Japan. The Associated Press has the story: Ford Motor Co. says that its Asia-Pacific operations may have to slow or stop production later this month because of parts shortages from Japan. Ford has had to temporarily halt operations in the U.S. and Europe because of shortages, but this was the first word of possible production cuts in Asia. Ford has 13 plants in its Asia-Pacific region, including eight assembly plants in Australia, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, India, the Philippines and China. Ford doesn’t have any production facilities in Japan but, like other automakers, does source parts from suppliers that were hurt by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Ford said in a regulatory filing Monday that it expects its operations will be affected beginning the last week of April and into May. It didn’t say which factories or for how long. However, if the supply of a key material or part from Japan is disrupted and it can’t find an alternate, Ford said it may have to reduce or temporarily halt vehicle production. That could hurt both the company’s results and Ford Motor Credit Co.’s financial condition, it added. '+'
