Sony, Toyota to resume production in Japan

PanARMENIAN.Net - Sony Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. prepared to resume production at some factories in Japan, as manufacturers sought to recover after the nation’s strongest earthquake on record forced them to shut plants.

Sony plans to restart a factory that makes rechargeable batteries in Tochigi prefecture, northern Japan, from March 22, Hiroshi Okubo, a Tokyo-based spokesman, said yesterday. Nissan, Japan’s second-largest automaker, said in a statement it will begin the resumption of operations at six factories tomorrow and some vehicle assembly from March 24, Bloomberg reported.

Toyota Boshoku Corp. , an auto-parts maker that supplies Toyota Motor, was ready to restart its plants “anytime” and was waiting for Toyota Motor to resume operations at its auto plants, Rei Nega, a spokesman for the component maker, said by phone. The supplier’s plants were largely undamaged, he said.

Nissan’s engine factory in Iwaki, located in the same prefecture where Tokyo Electric Power Co. workers are battling to avert a nuclear meltdown, aren’t getting enough water, electricity and gas to operate, said Toshitake Inoshita, a Nissan spokesman.

The carmaker is considering shipping engines from Tennessee to Japan, spokesman Mitsuru Yonekawa said by phone. The Iwaki plant makes engines for models including Infiniti sedans and Elgrand minivans, he said.