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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Honda and Mazda on Thursday announced they would resume limited production at its Japanese plants, following other automakers that are restarting operations despite supply chain issues.

Tokyo-based Honda said vehicle assembly at factories in Saitama and Suzuka will begin on April 11. The company will resume manufacturing and shipment of components intended overseas on April 4.

Production of cars and components will resume at about 50 percent of original levels becuause the parts supply situation “remains fluid.” The company added that it will “carefully monitor the situation and manage its operations accordingly.”

Honda plants in the Tochigi area, where damage from the earthquake was worse, remain shuttered. Restoration of the factories is expected to take months, and Honday has temporarily transferred some operations such as product development and procurement to other plants.

Hiroshima -based Mazda likewise plans to begin limited vehicle production using available parts, on April 4. The company resumed partial production of replacement and overseas parts in Hiroshima and Hofu plants on March 22.

Nissan has resumed limited operations in all facilities in Japan except at an engine plant in Iwaki. The automaker, which reported damage to 1,300 U.S.-bound cars at one of its factories following the quake, said vehicle production would continue until supplies run out.

The company’s American operations has been unaffected so far and will follow regular schedules this week. It does not expect a sales shortage in the short-term, with a rearward day’s supply of 47 cars and 49 vehicles for the Infiniti division.

Meanwhile, Toyota restarted production of replacement parts for Lexus, Scion and Toyota vehicles less than a week after the quake. The car manufacturer resumed shipments of parts to United States last week, and on Monday began local production of Prius and Lexus hybrids, for which worldwide demand is high.

Toyota postponed the launch of a Prius derivative in Japan last week but on Tuesday said that a safety stock throughout its supply chain has allowed it to continue filling orders.

The company assures that invetories of parts are “adequate” but that 1 percent of these parts are under “controlled allocation” to ensure availabilty until the situation in Japan returns to normal.

A magnitude 9 quake struck off the northeastern coast of Japan on Mar. 11, causing a 10-meter high tsunami and leading to a partial meltdown at a nuclear facility north of Tokyo.

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