Originally Posted by dad

Since the March 11 earthquake and resulting tsunami, the company has managed to maintain its supply of vehicles -- unlike competitors. Nissan "got its assembly plants and suppliers up and running sooner," says Rebecca Lindland, an analyst for IHS/Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. "Honda had taken the precaution of using more than one first-tier supplier. But that didn't work out because often both sources were hit by the same shortage of materials or sub-assemblies."

David Reuter, vice president of communications at Nissan's U.S. operations in Nashville, says that the automaker was forced to scramble to make sure its dealers had enough vehicles to sell. Computer chips, for example, were in short supply due to the quake. Nissan therefore decided to build more units with fewer high-tech features, such as navigation, in order to ensure that as many cars as possible were completed. The automaker also exported engine components from its U.S. plant in Canton, Mississippi to its Iwaki plant in Japan when power shortages prevented some ovens from reaching critical heat, thereby disrupting production.

"Nissan's advantage is monozukuri," Reuter said, a Japanese word that means manufacturing. He speculates that Nissan may have flown under the radar of its main competitors when they concentrated on the threat posed by South Korean producer Hyundai, the hottest ascendant Asian brand of the past few years.

How Nissan zoomed to the front of the pack - Fortune Tech