Japan Earthquake hits Mercedes-Benz Options

[st13phil]

It would appear that the Japanese earthquake is starting to affect the supply of certain parts to Mercedes-Benz.

I was told by my dealer yesterday that it is currently not possible to order certain models with Audio 20, and that for models affected Navigation 50 is now effectively the base audio system. You still have to pay for the option cost though. It is also impossible to order some models with COMAND due to component shortages.

Honda have cut production at the Swindon plant by 50% as a result of component shortages, and I would guess that with so much of Japan affected the situation will get worse before it gets better.

 

[Dr-Nab]

oh dear :/ is that going to affect the build of your car?

 

[Alps]

I just had a meeting regarding this with some of my suppliers, monitors, computers and servers are all effected also.

 

[markjay]

Quite possibly, but... call me an old cynic, but every supply delay on the planet is going to be pinned on the Japan earthquake, some may be true but others not, so I expect we will hear much more of this line of excuses...

 

[Sp!ke]

All the big computer vendors are sighting supply issues now affecting shipments - likely though to July and beyond.

 

[BlackC55]

I knew this would happen

 

[markjay]

I knew this would happen

What, the earthquake?

 

[st13phil]

oh dear :/ is that going to affect the build of your car?

Fortunately not - it completed build on Monday 4th (phew!) and this week I've been putting together the finishing touches to my Personal Collection trip with the nice ladies at Milton-Keynes :bannana:

 

[st13phil]

I knew this would happen

Absolutely, it was a foregone conclusion that all manner of goods will suffer extended deliveries as component shortages start to hit. I remember that the Kobe earthquake caused tyre shortages (amongst other things) and with even more infrastructure damaged by the latest 'quake there will be lots more to come from this one

 

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

Apparently one of the major producers of NBR (rubber products ) suffered the loss of one of their factories . Their customers include Bearing manufacturers, and , amongst others , the Automotive industry . This will at some stage lead to a shortage of products , and consequently higher prices. However , our inconvenience as consumers pales to insignificance compared to the devastating loss to the Japanese people , and foreign nationals living/working in the affected areas.Not to mention the brave souls battling to contain damage at nuclear power stations.

 

[st13phil]

However , our inconvenience as consumers pales to insignificance compared to the devastating loss to the Japanese people , and foreign nationals living/working in the affected areas.Not to mention the brave souls battling to contain damage at nuclear power stations.

Absolutely, I couldn't agree more.

 

[grober]

Quite possibly, but... call me an old cynic, but every supply delay on the planet is going to be pinned on the Japan earthquake, some may be true but others not, so I expect we will hear much more of this line of excuses...

Yup-- Failure of this years Tibetan Yak Harvest or Somali pirates just doesn't cut it any more. Likewise the lord of darkness Muammar Muhammad al-Gaddafi can't be blamed for the world price of oil going up since their output is so small ---- hold on a moment I've just had an idea.

 

[tim.100]

I knew this would happen

Yes, natural disasters hit the modern 'just in time' supply chain pretty hard, in various ways.

The Mount St Helens eruption in the USA (1982?) caused a nationwide shortage of air filters for 6 months. This was due to everyone in the NW USA needing lots of new filters....

However, in the electronics world where there are performance improvements monthly, I can't imagine anyone wanting any inventory for long.

 

[clived]

Guys, just found this forum and this thread doing a search for "Mercedes" and "Japan" following a call I had from our dealer about the E220CDI cabriolet we ordered a few weeks ago.

The car has gone from having a confirmed build date to not having one, and we're definitely now not expecting it at the end of June. The dealer couldn't tell us the full impact of this:

1) The car will definitely now have the 7 speed autobox and stop-start, as we would otherwise have been at the end of the 5 speed builds. He thinks we probably won't have to pay extra for this.

2) The car will very likely have to have Command. And he has no idea if or how much we'll have to pay extra for something we simply don't want or need.

If it is of interest, I'll keep you updated on new build / delivery dates and costs. I guess worst case as they can't supply what we ordered we'll just have our deposit back, but that's highly undesireable!

Cheers, Clive

P.S. Absolutely agree with the above re the absolute non-importance of this stuff compared to the suffering being endured.

 

[grober]

My guess on your delivery date is September or at least post the annual Mercedes factory holiday shut down ??? when usually they take the chance to make detailed changes to model specification. Sounds as if they are updating the Eclass spec to fall in line with the new facelift C class since it comes with the 7 speed auto- box as the standard auto option.

 

[Alfie]

It would appear that the Japanese earthquake is starting to affect the supply of certain parts to Mercedes-Benz.

I was told by my dealer yesterday that it is currently not possible to order certain models with Audio 20, and that for models affected Navigation 50 is now effectively the base audio system. You still have to pay for the option cost though. It is also impossible to order some models with COMAND due to component shortages.

Honda have cut production at the Swindon plant by 50% as a result of component shortages, and I would guess that with so much of Japan affected the situation will get worse before it gets better.

This is true. The plant that builds the Audio head units is inside the exclusion zone around the nuclear plant hit by the earthquake.

The price of comand units is rising all the time as a result

 

[clived]

My guess on your delivery date is September or at least post the annual Mercedes factory holiday shut down ??? when usually they take the chance to make detailed changes to model specification. Sounds as if they are updating the Eclass spec to fall in line with the new facelift C class since it comes with the 7 speed auto- box as the standard auto option.

That would be a 2 to 3 month delay

There isn't any doubt about if the the 7G Tronic Plus on the E - it's confirmed across the range.

 

[clived]

So the car is now at the dealership, ahead of schedule - it went from not having a build date on the system to being on its way!

It's been built with Nav 50, which the dealership are paying half of. Take of the cost of the media interface, and we're only paying £200-odd for Nav 50 - can't complain at that

 

[clived]

To wrap this up, ironically it all worked out for the best. Ended up with a 7 speed auto car, with Nav 50, for £10 a month less (thanks to the enhanced residuals) than the 5 speed / non Nav 50 car would have been.