Japan Earthquake Update

Firstly the good news. As yet the Japanese earthquake has not had an impact on new vehicle availability in New Zealand.

Now the bad news. We have been informed by most manufacturers (including non-Japanese brands) that supply will start to become an issue from May/June onwards and it may take some time to get back to normal levels.

Approximately 250 “just-in-time” parts suppliers and at least 2 assembly plants were based in the Fukashima area where the majority of the damage has occured. Other assembly plants in Japan, although not directly affected, are now contending with rolling power stoppages and are unable to operate without continuous power.

Some vehicle assembly plants in the United Kingdom and Europe have been shut down as the supply of parts starts to diminish. When factories are able to come back on stream, they plan to support their local markets before addressing the demands of export markets. Some local NZ manufacturers have been requested to re-forecast and then resubmit production orders in response to the anticipated shortages.

The bottom line is that supply will soon start to dry up and as a result we are expecting price increases over the coming months. We have already seen some evidence of this with discounts being reduced in April on some of the faster selling stock lines.

We continue to recommend that our clients order replacement vehicles as far in advance as possible. While supply may be reduced, ordering in advance will at least secure your place in the queue. Another reason to consider ordering new vehicles in advance is that new vehicles are less likely to require much in the way of parts supply for repairs.

We are trying to help by encouraging proactive steps. However, it is likely that the distributors of vehicles to New Zealand will have shortages, even for confirmed orders, and LeasePlan cannot accept any liability for orders that are unable to be fulfilled. We will continue to work closely with all of our clients to make sure their business needs are met during this period of supply uncertainty.

It's our job to make the management of your fleet as easy as possible, so please feel free to contact your LeasePlan Account Manager or our Client Services Team on 0800 LEASEPLAN (0800 532 737) to discuss any of the above.


The Team at LeasePlan