The disruption of production in Japan creates opportunities for ancient rivals on the Asia mainland. For instance, Korean automakers are likely to benefit from the disruption to production and exports to Japanese automakers. As it stands now, the disaster will create short-term shortages, anomalies and discontinuities. But Japanese automakers have been tested by catastrophe before and successfully recovered.
According to the latest ranking by Consumer Reports, the nation's most influential car advisor, Honda, Subaru, and Toyota stand as the three most proficient automakers selling cars in the U.S. (as measured by predicted reliability and road test results) while Mazda and Nissan outscore the likes of Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
Even an earthquake followed by a tsunami is unlikely to materially change that ranking.
