Richard Yarrow's opinion for startrescue.co.uk, providing low cost Car Breakdown Cover.

The Japanese earthquake and tsunami was thankfully far enough away from the UK that it didn’t have a physical impact. But in the automotive world the problems are stacking up; they have travelled round the world and are now affecting Britain.

Japan is home to dozens of car factories that supply vehicles to every corner of the globe. Thankfully, many were unaffected, but that’s not the issue. It’s much more about the suppliers – and the suppliers of parts to those suppliers – which is beginning to have an impact here.

If the Japanese factories can’t get the parts – and it only takes one missing component to halt the assembly line – production has to stop. Also, many of the ports on the Japanese east coast which are used to transport the finished cars by ferry have been damaged. Nissan has said that inevitably there is going to be shortage of certain models going forward. Other firms say they have enough new cars in stock to meet orders for a while, but obviously it’s difficult to predict how long Japan’s problems will last.

But the issues aren’t just restricted to the Japanese work force. Honda announced earlier this month that its Swindon plant has been

forced to cut production, because a small percentage of parts for each car built comes from the home market. It’s now running at only 50 per cent capacity. Similarly, Nissan has revealed workers at its Sunderland factory (pictured) will down tools on 26, 27 and 28 April because of a shortage of bits.

How is all this going to impact on Joe Public, walking into his local Japanese dealership and picking a new car? Hopefully it’s not going to mean higher prices, but it will probably mean a longer waiting time.