(Adds response from other automakers)
SHANGHAI/TOKYO, May 12 (Reuters) - Foreign car makers said their China operations were not damaged by a strong earthquake in southwestern China on Monday, although Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and Volkswagen AG (VOWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) said they had no word on two small joint venture facilities in the region.
An earthquake of magnitude 7.8 in Sichuan Province killed five children and injured more than 100 people, while causing buildings to sway as far away as Shanghai and the Thai capital, Bangkok.
Suzuki Motor Corp (7269.T: Quote, Profile, Research), which operates a car factory in Sichuan’s provincial capital of Chongqing, said the earthquake had no impact on its operations.
Staff at a Ford Motor (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) facility in Chongqing were briefly evacuated out of safety concerns but returned to work minutes later, China-based company spokesman Kenneth Hsu said.
“When the earthquake first hit, our staff were ordered to evacuate the plant for roughly 10 minutes, but they have returned to work now,” he said.
Toyota Motor and Volkswagen, which make vehicles in separate tie-ups with China’s FAW Group in Sichuan province, said they were not immediately clear on the situation at their facilities.
“We are still trying to get in touch with our China plants. I don’t have any information yet,” a Toyota spokeswoman in China said.
Neither of the plants is a major production facility for the firms.
General Motors GM.M, Nissan Motor (7201.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and Honda Motor (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said their operations in China were not affected by the quake. (Reporting by Fang Yan in Shanghai, Nobuhiro Kubo and Chang-Ran Kim in Tokyo; Editing by Edmund Klamann)

reuters.com


Tags: ,