Nissan Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn said fewer than 20 suppliers are still in a critical situation, down from 40 in March, after the megaquake halted production at factories and crimped domestic sales.
"Much less than half" of the suppliers have yet to recover, allowing Nissan to forecast that global production will return to normal levels by October, Ghosn said Thursday in an interview in Yokohama. "We're closing down on these cases and there's a very collaborative effort that is taking place."
To prevent future disruptions to production, Nissan, the nation's second-largest automaker, will ask second- and third-tier suppliers to implement "alternate sourcing" of components, which they currently lack, Ghosn said. That may mean suppliers, particularly semiconductor makers, may be able to produce the same component in multiple factories around the country, he said.