{"id":37931,"date":"2011-04-07T14:34:48","date_gmt":"2011-04-07T18:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=37931"},"modified":"2011-04-07T14:34:48","modified_gmt":"2011-04-07T18:34:48","slug":"parts-shortages-could-be-big-challenge-for-new-honda-civic-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2011\/04\/parts-shortages-could-be-big-challenge-for-new-honda-civic-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"Parts Shortages Could be Big Challenge for New Honda Civic Launch"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Japanese parts shortage will likely have an impact on the upcoming launch of the new Civic, acknowledges Honda's top U.S. executive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The biggest product launch of the year for Honda is at risk as the company struggles to roll out the new 2012 Civic.<\/p>\n

Like its Japanese competitors, Honda has been hard-hit by the Japanese earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis, with production in the home market only set to resume next week.\u00a0 The good news for the maker is that nearly 90% of the vehicles it sells in North America are produced in the U.S. or Canada \u2013 but even those facilities are feeling the pinch, confirms Honda\u2019s top American executive, in an exclusive interview with TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n

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Your Inside Source!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe situation is changing every day,\u201d says American Honda Executive Vice President John Mendel.\u00a0 The worse part, he admits, is \u201cWe don\u2019t know yet\u201d the full extent of the parts shortages created by last month\u2019s natural disaster.\u00a0 \u201cThe situation changes day-to-day.\u00a0 It\u2019s very fluid,\u201d Mendel says, adding that all Honda products use at least some components imported from the home market.<\/p>\n

Some of the world\u2019s largest electronic component suppliers were particular hard hit by the March 11 events, but there are plenty of other parts that could create problems if they aren\u2019t available.\u00a0 \u201cIf you only lose the needle for a speedometer, can you still build your car?\u201d asks Mendel.<\/p>\n

Honda has already trimmed production at its so-called transplant assembly operations, some from 8 hours to 6 per shift, others cut to just 4 hours.\u00a0 But the maker has warned employees that full, if temporary shutdowns may follow.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a particular problem considering Honda is just getting ready for the official launch of the all-new Civic, which begins a phased roll-out starting April 20th<\/sup>.\u00a0 One of the most popular products in the U.S. market, and a top-seller in the hotly competitive compact segment, the outgoing Civic has remained surprisingly popular even as it enters the end of its lifecycle, so Honda was counting on achieving a big send-off for the 2012 Civic.<\/p>\n

Production of the new model began in North America back in January, so the maker expects to have from 10,000 to 12,000 of the 2012 compact in dealer lots at launch time.\u00a0 But considering Civic sales hit 30,000 last month, that\u2019s not even a two-week supply.<\/p>\n

So, considering the company\u2019s production problems, \u201cthe backfill of the pipeline for the next 60 days will be difficult,\u201d Mendel cautions.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s forcing the maker to rethink its marketing plans for the 2012 Civic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe emphasis may not be as big\u201d as it would have been, the executive acknowledges, had Honda been assured of a steady supply of product.\u00a0 One of the worst mistakes a company can make, he says, is to stage a well-funded launch then find it didn\u2019t actually have enough product in showrooms to meet demand.<\/p>\n

One possibility is that Honda will \u201cstretch it out,\u201d over a longer timeframe than planned Mendel hints, though that could require a significant bump in the marketing budget for the Civic launch.<\/p>\n

Industry analysts have been questioning whether a delayed roll-out of the new Civic might work against the brand.\u00a0 Art Spinella, chief analyst with CNW Marketing, has warned that the longer customers have to wait the more likely at least some customers will switch brands.<\/p>\n

Mendel acknowledges that is a potential problem.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a great time for consumers because there are more choices.\u00a0 Every (maker) has upped the ante.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford, with the new Focus, Chevrolet, with the all-new Cruze, and Hyundai, with the redesigned Elantra, all hope to grab sales away from the compact segment\u2019s market-leading Asian brands.\u00a0 And the parts shortage, some believe, could make that especially easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an inherent assumption,\u201d Mendel emphasizes, \u201cthat we\u2019re the only one affected\u201d by the shortages.\u00a0 But that\u2019s wrong, he adds.\u00a0 Indeed, GM had to close a plant in Louisiana for a week due to shortages.\u00a0 Ford and Chrysler have had to curtail orders for several paint colors depending on pigments from Japan.\u00a0 Toyota and Subaru have had to trim their own North American production schedules.\u00a0 And further cuts are expected by all makers in the weeks to come.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Mendel concedes, it isn\u2019t the ideal situation for Honda.\u00a0 The 2012 Civic is a critical offering and the smoother the launch goes the better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The imminent launch of the new 2012 Honda Civic could be seriously challenged by the Japanese auto parts shortage, confirms the maker’s top American executive, in an exclusive interview with TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37931"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37931"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=37931"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=37931"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=37931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}