A few days ago, a massive earthquake hit the Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto, killing 18 people. In addition to the deaths, injuries, and destroyed homes, the earthquake also disrupted the Japanese car industry. Some of the first automakers to announce temporary plant closures were Toyota and Nissan, and now, according to Automotive News, Mitsubishi, Honda, and Daihatsu have added to the list of shutdowns.
What Closed And How It Might Affect The US
The factories shut down by the earthquake, according to Automotive News, were two Daihatsu plants, two Honda plants, and a Mitsubishi plant. Daihatsu doesn’t operate in the US, so that closure won’t have an effect here, and the Honda factories weren’t automotive. One made motorcycles, and the other power equipment, so at least Honda’s car business likely won’t be impacted. We have reached out to Honda, though, for additional details and comment. We haven’t heard back yet, but will update this story if and when we get a statement.
2025 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport 3rd Gen (XD) Facelift SUVMitsubishi
The Mitsubishi plant, though, does build a vehicle for the US. It was the factory in Mizushima, and a Mitsubishi spokesperson told us that the shut-down began on the evening of July 30. The reason for the closure was suppliers sustaining damage to their facilities, and the parts supply being disrupted. The factory mainly builds Mitsubishi’s kei-class vans and pickup trucks, but it also builds the Outlander Sport, which is called the RVR in Japan. It’s the second best-selling model for Mitsubishi in the US, so it’s important for the brand here.
The Mitsubishi spokesperson couldn’t say exactly when production would resume, or exactly what impact the closure would have on the US.
“We are continuing to assess the impact of this production suspension, including its effects on production and supply, and will continue to closely monitor developments.” -Mitsubishi Spokesperson
That’s understandable, considering the fact that the earthquake occurred just a few days ago, and it has clearly disrupted multiple automakers and their suppliers. So the situation is complicated and interconnected, and it might take some time to have any estimates for restarts. The spokesperson also noted that, fortunately, no one at any Mitsubishi facilities were seriously injured or killed in the 7.1-magnitude earthquake.
2025-2026 Toyota Land Cruiser front 3/4 angle in blue while parkedToyota
The Nissan And Toyota Factories Build More US-Market Vehicles
Toyota may have been hit the hardest of these automakers when it comes to plant closures. It initially shut down three plants, and they make the bulk of the Lexus lineup, as well as hybrid powertrains. Automotive News reports that the company has since added a truck plant that builds the Lexus GX, Toyota Land Cruiser, and Toyota 4Runner, among others. As for Nissan, it closed two plants. One doesn’t build anything for the US, but the other builds the Nissan Armada and Infiniti QX80, both of which have been seeing increasing sales over the last couple of years. Both companies are still figuring out when production might resume at their facilities.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
It’s entirely possible that sudden plant closures could reduce vehicle supply and availability, and, in severe cases, result in higher prices. That would require a lengthy production disruption, though, since automakers tend to have a reserve of vehicles for sale or about to go on sale at any given time. Also, while this earthquake was severe, it wasn’t as severe as the Fukushima earthquake 15 years ago, and some companies were able to get operations back up and running in a month after that one. So, there’s a decent chance that automakers will be back up and running fairly quickly.
Source: Automotive News
