Car makers around the world have been forced to temporarily restrict their orders on the cars in certain shades (red, black, etc) as the industry is struggling with shortage of a specialty pigment that is used to give a glittering shine to the vehicles. It is to be mentioned here that the Xirallic pigment that gives cars a glittering shine, is produced only in the Onahama plant near the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power station in Japan. Leading auto makers including Chrysler, Toyota , General Motors and Ford use the pigment for offering a glittering shine to their cars.
The Onahama plant, which has been evacuated, is operated by German chemical company Merck KGaA. According to a statement given by the spokesman of the company, the firm does not know when it will be permitted to reopen the plant, which was closed soon after the March 11 earthquake.
While Chrysler has restricted orders on vehicles in 10 colors (including two variations of black and three of red), Ford has slowed down the production of vehicles in - tuxedo black - and three red variations. Toyota spokesman Mike Goss said in a statement that the company uses the pigment, but it had not restricted orders.
