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Exports from Japan | Radiation

smcadmin — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 19:22:42 +0000

Japan continues to struggle from the effects of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and one of the biggest issues facing the nation has been the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. The facility is now a grade seven nuclear disaster, which puts it on the same scale as the Chernobyl disaster in Russia during the 1980s.

Damaged Nuclear Plant

Radiation from the plant has been found in agricultural sources, too, which has prompted 29 countries and regions to suspend or tighten controls on food and dairy products. Bloomberg reports that radiation fears have prompted the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) to begin testing vehicles for radiation prior to shipments at home and abroad. The move follows steps already being taking by Nissan to test all vehicles prior to shipment.

JAMA has mainly decided to perform the radiation checks to calm the nerves of some customers who have asked if their products are still safe, and so far radiation has been negligible. JAMA tells Bloomberg that, at least so far, foreign countries haven’t introduced suspensions or strict measures. One container ship was asked to head back to Japan from China after radiation levels of 3.5 microsieverts per hour were detected. The typical X-ray is 100 microsieverts.

[Source: Bloomberg via The Wall Street Journal| Image: AFP/Getty]

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Nissan Car Exports – Radiation

smcadmin — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 13:11:10 +0000

As fears of radiation from Japan’s severely compromised Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant seem to be growing by the minute, automakers have tried to assure car buyers that most of their products are produced far enough away from the crippled facility that fallout won’t end up on vehicles, but a report from Kicking Tires shows that Nissan wants to go a step further.

Nissan will reportedly perform a radiation inspection on all vehicles imported from Japan; a process that will continue until all threats of contamination have subsided.

Nissan, along with other Japanese automakers, is also trying to better assess any potential supply disruptions that could come as a result of the quake and ensuing tsunami. The automaker claims that its current supply of vehicles here in the U.S. stands at 50 days worth of cars, trucks and SUVs. That number could dwindle, however, as current estimates show that the carmaker has at least seven days worth of parts. After those seven days are up, the company will reportedly reassess its situation.

Nissan Toyota Radiation and Prices

The problems facing automakers in the wake of Japan’s deadly earthquake and the resulting tsunami are already manifesting themselves in the form of higher transaction prices on some Japanese cars, as U.S. dealers show less willingness to negotiate downward from the number on the window sticker, according to an AP report.

Automakers like Toyota, Honda and Nissan all say they have a sufficient supply of vehicles in the U.S. that had already been imported from Japan before the disaster struck. So, if there are still plenty of Japanese cars on Stateside lots, why the hardening prices?

It’s a simple case of supply and demand, explain some dealers polled by The Associated Press. “We’re going to run out of cars. We had five [Prius hybrids] on the ground yesterday, and I don’t know when I’ll get another,” says Dave Conant, owner of a Toyota dealership in San Diego, CA. “The market has shifted pretty quickly and dramatically.”

Of course, some people believe dealerships are just using speculative vehicle shortages to make a few extra bucks. We suspect the truth may be a little bit of both.

Car Shipping

If you are shipping a car from or to Japan and need any advise please contact us on 01908 887 917 or visit our website ShipMyCar

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Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

smcadmin — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 07:44:43 +0000

At ShipMyCar we have been shocked by the recent disaster in Japan, it is hard to imagine how it would feel to have a natural disaster of such scale here in the UK and how people would deal with it. It becomes more real when you see images of the aftermath from the earthquake and tsunami which you can relate to from your day-to-day work and when we saw these images from the areas we deal with such as the Hitachi car port it really hits home as to the level of destruction the Japanese people are facing.

Below are some images of cars, planes and ships that have been thrown around like toys:

Shipping Containers following Tsunami

Hitachi Port following Tsunami

Container ship following tsunami

Cars at Hitachi Port

Planes and Cars damaged in Japan

Cars on top of houses in Japan

Needless to say all car shipments to/from Japan are on hold, even the major manufacturers have either stopped production or slowed right down. It is too early to say at the moment whether the events will affect car production in the USA. All of this is insignificant of course in relation to the loss and ruin of human life.

Our thoughts go out to anybody affected by the events in Japan and we urge people visiting our site to donate to Doctors Without Borders (MSF) here

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660cc Chevy Pickup?

smcadmin — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 09:48:45 +0000

A company in Sagamihara, Japan specialise in recreating classic American vehicles using tiny Kei-Cars. Kei Cars are actually a class of vehicle including passenger cars, vans, and pickup trucks which are designed to exploit local tax and insurance regulations. Because regulations only restrict physical size, engine displacement and power, manufacturers have introduced many advanced technologies to the class. As a result, kei cars are often available with forced induction engines, automatic and CVT transmissions, front-, rear- and four-wheel drive, hybrid drivetrains, air conditioning, GPS and many other features.

The company recreating the American cars is called Dream Factory Blow – they use an advanced fibre reinforced polymer to go over the basic sheet metal of the chosen Kei Car. The results are pretty impressive, but lets be honest, a Chevy Pickup with 660cc? Give us cubic inches and V8’s any day…

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