Since the earthquake and tsunami, the Japanese have suffered problems with water, electricity and transportation, and have closed factories as a result.
Mike Balise of Baslie Toyota checks out one of the remaining Toyota Prius automobiles on the lot in West Springfield.Howard I. Sackaroff, general manager of Curry Honda and Curry Nissan in Chicopee doesn’t want to run out of cars no matter what the Japanese earthquake and its ongoing impact do to automakers’ complex global supply chains.
So he bought 26 Hondas from another dealer and had them delivered to his Memorial Avenue lot.
“I’m trying to find some Nissans but I haven’t been as lucky so far,” Sackaroff said.
Since the earthquake and tsunami, the Japanese have suffered problems with water, electricity and transportation, and have closed factories as a result.
“In general, for most manufacturers, we expect there to be small pinches in certain areas of inventory,” said Michael D. Balise, vice president of Balise Motor Sales in West Springfield. “We don’t expect to see any major disruptions.”
Balise Motor Sales is one of the largest car dealers in New England with locations in West Springfield, Springfield, Wilbraham, Connecticut and Rhode Island. It operates 20 new vehicle dealerships, representing Buick, Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Lexus, Mazda, Nissan, Scion, Subaru, Toyota and Volkswagen.
He pointed out that most Hondas and Toyotas are made in North America, but the parts come from Japan. It takes three weeks for parts to come from Japan, so any part shortages might not even be felt for another week or so.
In Chicopee, U.S. Tsubaki has increased production of timing chains for automakers in an effort to pick up the slack left by a shut-down plant in Japan.
Balise said parts shortages should hit hybrid cars hardest because the batteries and electronics come from Japan.
Prices of used Toyota Prius models jumped last week at used-car auctions. But those prices later fell when shortages failed to materialize quickly.
It’s not just the Japanese makes. Ford last week started restricting the availability of some red and black paint colors because the pigments come from Japan.
“Right now we have vehicles on the lot in those colors,” said Jeffrey J. Sarat, general sales manager for Sarat Ford Lincoln in Agawam. “But we will run out.”
Ford allowed Sarat to order an Explorer for a customer in “Tuxedo Black,” but only because it was for a specific customer. Sarat said he would not have been able to order the SUV in “Tuxedo Black” if he were planning to keep the car on inventory.
Curry’s Sackaroff predicted high gas prices combined with parts shortages might make high-efficiency Honda models hard to get by the time summer rolls around.
“At the risk of sounding like a car salesman, anyone looking for an import should buy now,” he said.