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Japanese earthquakes send ripples through auto industry

The earthquakes since April 14 in Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu are having aftershocks on the US auto industry, particularly for Toyota. The company shut down most of its factories in the country due to parts shortages, and the plants will be closed at least through April 23. "Decisions regarding recommencement of operation at plants in Japan will be made on the basis of availability of parts," the company said in a statement. According to Automotive News, Toyota's closed factories include a vast range of popular models in the US, including the Toyota Prius, Mirai, RAV4, 4Runner, Land Cruiser, Lexus ES, LS, IS, GS, RC, NX, RX, GX, and LX. The company's only sites in Japan that are still open build Hino trucks, Daihatsu models, and the Toyota Century limo. Toyota isn't yet sure whether these shutdowns could lead to vehicle shortages in the US. "As you can imagine, we are still reviewing the situation and working to learn more," company spokesperson Aaron Fowles told Autoblog. "While we know that production will be suspended in stages at most of our vehicle assembly facilities in Japan between April 18th and the 23rd, we do not know if they will continue production suspensions. Also, any effects to our inventory and/or sales have yet to be determined." He expects the automaker to know more in the coming days. Many of the affected Toyota plants aren't even in Kumamoto Prefecture, but major suppliers have factories in the region. For example, Aisin Seiki and Renesas Electronics both had to shutdown operations at plants in the area, according to Automotive News. Toyota isn't the only automaker affected. Nissan experienced a brief slowdown but was back to work on Monday, and Honda has suspended a motorcycle plant in the region until Friday. Mitsubishi had to close a production line due to the parts shortage, according to The Japan Times, but it didn't affect US models. "A supplier to our Mizushima plant has been impacted but they only supply an engine part for our mini car line. That line has been temporarily shut down due to that situation," spokesperson Alex Fedorak told Autoblog. "That same plant builds the Lancer and i-MiEv and there has been no impact to that line and production continues uninterrupted." Two major quakes hit Kumamoto Prefecture around Kumamoto city in the past week. The first on April 14 measured 6.4 magnitude, and a second on April 16 measured 7.3.

OK Go ride Honda UNI-CUB ? in latest amazeballs music video

When Honda unveiled the slimmed-down ?eta version of its Uni-Cub last year, it might have thought the minimalist electric vehicle would find its most enthusiastic audience inside office buildings, where it would simultaneously lighten the load of worker drones and perhaps inject a bit of rolling robotic tech-type fun into an otherwise drab and dreary day. It was wrong. Clearly, this personal mobility machine was destined for greater things. Honda paid for the new video, which was shot a half-speed. When you watch it, you'll know why. For instance, it could be used for electric unicycle square dancing (Okay, technically the Uni-Cub ? employs one wheel and a caster-type ball, thereby disqualifying it from unicycle status, but whatever.) Or even better, it could be a platform upon which the power pop group OK Go and a few hundred Japanese school girls could perform awesome maneuvers, including the aforementioned electric unicycle square dancing, in their latest totally amazeballs video. Honda reportedly paid for the new video, which was shot at half-speed and when you watch it, you'll know why. Where before we thought this curious device, with its intuitive steering and self-balancing, would only really ever find a place as a demonstrator of Honda's engineering prowess, we now see it as a foregone conclusion that it will infest our daily lives and fill them with fantastic choreographed journeys of art. Thank you for opening our eyes, Ok Go. To have your own eyes opened, just scroll below for the visual accompaniment to I Won't Let You Down from the new album, Hungry Ghosts. As is the band's wont, it's all done in one take, and is sure to drop your jaw. Ok, go! This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Honda N Box + has incredible versatility as oddly humorous JDM video shows

We want the Honda N Box +. Strangely enough, this video spot, shot in Japanese and gushing with production values that are a bit foreign to us, makes us want the little Honda even more. You see, we don't need to know Japanese to see that the kei car's 'universal bridge' feature isn't a gimmick - it actually looks extremely convenient - and that the car's multi-space system takes interior functionality to a new level. We don't require a translator to laugh at the gags in this spot, either, though we won't pretend to understand them idiomatically.
But really, the video is worth a watch, if for no better reasons than to enjoy a confusion-based laugh, and to marvel at the tiny car's extremely efficient use of space. We don't expect the N Box + to be offered for sale anywhere near North America, so to get your kicks, you'll have to head below to watch the commercial.