GM Forced To Close 4 Plants Due To Japan Quake

General Motors Company GM has announced that it will be temporarily shutting down four of its North American plants due to parts shortages caused by the recent earthquakes in Japan.

The operations that will be impacted are GM’s car plants in Lordstown, Ohio; Fairfax, Kansas; Spring Hill, Tennessee and Flex Oshawa, Ontario. Each of these plants will be shut down for two weeks starting on April 25.

According to the company, GM shareholders shouldn’t worry about lost production. The company expects to make up for lost production by the end of the year and the shutdown “is not expected to have any material impact” on GM’s year-end numbers.
 

Related Link: In Japan, The Kumamoto Earthquake Did 'Major Damage' To At Least One Local Plant

While the Japan earthquakes have had minimal impact on the U.S. auto industry, other auto names were more directly affected.

Toyota Motor Corp (ADR) TM, Honda Motor Co Ltd (ADR) HMC and Nissan all operate assembly plants in the region of Japan impacted by the quake. Earlier this week, Citi analyst Arifuma Yoshida said, “Domestic auto production could potentially be broadly impacted.”

Investors don’t seem to be particularly concerned about lasting fallout from the quake. Shares of GM, Toyota, Honda and Ford Motor Company F are all up between 3.0 and 6.0 percent this week.

Disclosure: the author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.