The Japanese earthquake and tsunami

The Japanese earthquake and tsunami:
TOKYO, Japan, March 14, 2011 – Honda would like to express its deepest sympathy and condolences to the victims of The 2011 Off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake in northeastern Japan and our sincere hopes for the earliest possible relief and recovery of the affected areas.

Honda has announced serious damage was caused at two of their research and development centers as well as the Tochigi factory and Honda Engineering complex. Tragically, one person was killed and more than 30 people were injured. The company is still accessing the situation and will suspend operations until next week. Honda will suspend regular operations at all Honda facilities in the Tochigi area, where damage was more serious, (including Tochigi Factory, Honda R&D Co., Ltd. Automobile R&D Center (Tochigi) , Honda Engineering Co., Ltd., etc.), and focus on the recovery of each operation. Honda associates will not come to work during this time.

Toyota is reporting that no one was injured at any of their plants or corporate offices but the Hokkaido, Tohoku, Miyagi, and Iwate factories are offline.

Nissan appears to be one of the hardest hit as the company is reporting significant damage at six different facilities.

Mazda says they were relatively unaffected as the company’s factories and headquarters didn’t suffer any damage.

Suzuki says there doesn’t appear to be any damage to their facilities and all personal have escaped unharmed.

Subaru hasn’t released many details about their situation, but the company has reportedly halted operations for the time being.

For those who have applied for next year’s recruiting process starting in April of this year (associates who would join the company in April 2012) from the affected areas (six prefectures in Tohoku areas and Ibaraki prefecture), Honda will ensure that the testing/interviewing of those applicants will be conducted in June or later. More details will be posted on the recruiting section of the Honda website in April.