Car makers and parts suppliers plan to cut production at their Ontario plants for a fourth day on Thursday as the Canadian province struggles with the aftermath of last week’s massive blackout, the Detroit News reported.
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Rising temperatures and humidity levels, causing more air conditioning use, and delays in bringing several nuclear power plants back on line are hampering Ontario’s recovery, the paper said, adding that car manufacturers expect to make up the lost vehicle output in fairly short order, but not without cost.
“The lost production can be measured in tens of millions of dollars,” Auto Parts Manufacturers Association president Gerry Fedchun told the Detroit News from Toronto. “We’re joined at the hip in this industry, and we’ve just moved with them. We’ve cut out day shifts wherever possible.”
Suppliers are getting ready to crank up production this weekend as car makers try to recover the lost output, the paper said.
Spokesman Dan Flores told the Detroit News General Motors plans to run 15 plants in the United States and Canada on overtime this weekend but would not estimate the cost of doing so.
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By GlobalDataFord of Canada spokeswoman Laren More told the paper the company has brought in diesel generators to provide partial power at its Oakville, Ontario, headquarters and at its assembly plant there.
The Detroit News said Ontario premier Ernie Eves has asked the province’s biggest customers to reduce power consumption 50% during peak hours – 8 am to 8 pm – and reinforced that request on Wednesday.
The province is gradually bringing several older nuclear power plants back on line that had been placed in “safe shutdown mode,” electricity industry spokesman Terry Young told the paper, adding that he expected the last of the four plants to be operating by Monday.
As more power comes online, the car makers are adjusting production schedules, the Detroit News said, noting that GM’s Oshawa 2 car plant had been shut down to conserve power, but ran Wednesday on a half shift and was scheduled to do so again on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the paper added, the Oshawa 1 car plant had operated only during the third shift, but added first shift production on Wednesday and expected to do so on Thursday – the plants make mid-size sedans, including the Chevrolet Malibu, Buick Regal and Pontiac Grand Prix.
The Detroit News said GM’s Oshawa truck plant, where GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado pickups are built, continued its normal three-shift operation but Ford halted production at its Essex engine plant in Windsor on Wednesday but expected to resume output on Thursday.
The newspaper said Chrysler Group will continue a truncated production schedule at its Windsor assembly plant, which makes minivans and the Chrysler Pacifica sport wagon, running the last four hours of the afternoon shift beginning at 8 pm, followed by a full overnight shift to avoid usage during peak power periods.
Honda cut production at its two plants in Alliston, Ontario by half, from roughly 800 cars a day to 400, at Plant 1, which builds the Civic and Acura EL, the Detroit News said, adding that another plant, which produces the Odyssey, Pilot and Acura MDX, is running normal shifts and production levels.
In all, the blackout has led to a production loss of 2,400 units, the Detroit News said, adding that Honda has not yet decided how the lost volume will be made up – the company could run overtime later, or increase Civic production at other plants.
Toyota told the newspaper it hasn’t curtailed production of Corolla and Matrix models in Cambridge, Ontario, but pre-production of the Lexus RX330 SUV, due to go into production next month, has been halted.
The Detroit News said automotive parts maker Magna International has 59 of its 63 Canadian manufacturing facilities in Ontario and the company, based in Aurora, Ontario, shut non-essential facilities such as research and development centres and assembly lines producing parts already in stock while manufacturing shifts were moved away from peak daytime hours to evenings.
